Puffins Climb, Penguins Rhyme

by Bruce McMillan

In this unusual and entertaining book, young readers visit puffins who live at the top of the earth in Iceland and penguins who live at the bottom of the earth in Antarctica. An exploration of language as well as an introduction to these two special birds, Bruce McMillan’s playful book will inspire children to observe, to compare, and to name the simple but spectacular events of the natural world.

Genres: Animals, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Storytime, Poetry, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood]

This was an entertaining little book of what the author calls "verb poetry", paired with absolutely brilliant photos of Atlantic puffins and gentoo penguins. Despite the title, the verses stick with the facts, such as "Penguins glare/Penguins share". The photos show just that. I had been worried that the book might descend with sillness -- or a bad parody of Ginsberg's "Howl."

After the verb poetry, there are two pages for older readers listing quick facts about both species. There are also hand drawn maps of the species' range, ca. 1990. Sadly, both species have been decimated by climate change, which has caused them to starve in their thousands. Fortunately, both species have bred well in captivity, especially the gentoo penguins.

The copyright page notes that the printed books were made with Arctic matte paper. This is the first book in the thousands I have read that is apparently made with such material.

[Jason Utz]

My son loves puffins and penguins, good short book for bed

[Jessica Vu]

This book is a good example of rhyming words and can be used to help illistrate simple writing using rhyming words. You can also use it as an example of terse verse writting.
Puffin climbs
Pengines rhyme

Cildren can write their own terse-verse.
Jessica swings
Jessica sings
Jessica cooks
jessica reads books

Repitition of words
Recalling, retelling - what did the pengine do? What did the Puffin do?

[Jennifer Heise]

This is an easy short read-aloud; alternating double-page spreads show penguins, and on the next spread puffins, doing two rhyming activities:
'penguins glare, penguins share'. Good for the older toddler, especially when practicing pattern prediction, but my penguin-fan five year old still enjoys it. Pair with "Busy Busy Penguins."

[Ellie]

A nice easy read. Rhyming is always pleasant on the ears (unless you hate it). Plus, kids learn new words like glare and stare and peer. What fun is that! And most kiddies don't know what puffins are. They get to hear about this NEW, sweet bird AND vamp up their knowledge about penguins.

[Calinda]

This book is charming. It uses a broad vocabulary and has beautiful photographs. It is simple enough to read to a small child, but it has engaging facts in a more scientific couple of pages toward that back, that will entertain older children, as well.

[Elizabeth Moreau Nicolai]

This book worked well for storytime. Even though we had it in the non-fiction section it wasn't as factual and didn't lend itself as well to a "try non-fiction with your kids" pep talk. However the real photos are great and a nice diversion from illustrations.

[Marissa Elera]

The photos in this one are lovely, but the book is a touch long for its concept.