Atlantic Puffin, Little Brother of the North

Ellie Contursi is a children’s librarian at the London Public Library.

Told in the voice of an Atlantic puffin, this picture book is well
written, accurate, and beautifully illustrated. From the facts that are
given, readers learn that Atlantic puffins drink salt water, live mainly
at sea, and meet their mates only in the spring. They lay one egg each
year and can dig a nest burrow up to a metre deep. A little-known
favourite fact is that they toilet train their young. Puffins have a
washroom of sorts at the front of their tunnel homes and teach their
puffling (new hatchling) to use this area in order to keep their
feathers clean and waterproof as they grow. The author includes
additional information about this captivating bird in a section on the
final page.

Each page is filled with wonderful illustrations that help give the
reader a glimpse of the life of an Atlantic puffin. The drawings contain
little, if any, white space, are rendered in vivid colours, and easily
capture the actions described in the text—an excellent partnership.
This very enjoyable book would do well as a read-aloud story. Highly
recommended.