Puffins Climb, Penguins Rhyme - Hardcover

McMillan, Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152003622 ISBN 13: 9780152003623

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995

Synopsis

A comparative introduction to the polar worlds of puffins and penguins combines entertaining photographs with friendly verse while encouraging young readers to observe and explore the natural world.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce McMillan has written and illustrated more children’s books set in Iceland than any other United States author. Going Fishing is his sixth to be set there, and his forty-third overall. He often summers in Iceland, though he lives in Shapleigh, Maine. Bruce holds a B.S. in biology from the University of Maine and has received numerous awards and honors for his children’s books.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 1?Through extraordinary photography, McMillan compares and contrasts the habits and habitats of the puffins of Iceland and the penguins of Antarctica. Each page of this stunning book holds oversized, full-color close-ups that exhibit, among other things, the birds flying, standing, grooming themselves, greeting one another, eating, and caring for their young. Large, oversized black type runs along the bottom of each page proclaiming, in minimalist verse, things like "Puffins land" and "Puffins stand," "Penguins nest" and "penguins rest." While books on puffins and penguins abound, the pairing of the two species here makes for a winner. An excellent introduction to the worlds of these two birds and to a discussion of their environments.?Dot Minzer, North Barrington School, Barrington, IL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Master photo-essayist McMillan finds fetching fun in a few feathered friends as he pairs likenesses of two avian species with rhyming, two-word captions. Inhabiting literally opposite ends of the earth, puffins (from the North Polar region) and penguins (native to Antarctica) share an endearing gawkiness, and McMillan's unadorned, crystalline photographs capture surprising humor and personality in the simplest of situations. Spreads alternate between the two varieties, presenting both single subjects and groups in representative activities-"Puffins walk. Puffins squawk. Penguins brawl. Penguins call." The black-and-white birds' orange-toned beaks and feet lend intense splashes of color to the stark backgrounds-gray sea and rocks, clear blue skies, green grass. Though technically not of a feather, these birds flock together to provide an inviting nature study. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3^-6. Antarctic penguins and Icelandic puffins are pictured in photographs on alternating double-page spreads, with simple, rhyming text in very large black letters set below each picture. "Penguins glare. Penguins share. Puffins hide. Puffins glide." Unlike McMillan's Night of the Pufflings , which actually contains some of the same pictures that appear here, this book has no narrative. But the combination of clear rhymes and bright pictures will work well with groups and make the book good preparation for a field trip to the zoo, where puffins and penguins often appear together. Mary Harris Veeder

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0152003622
• ISBN 13: 9780152003623
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40