Puffins Climb, Penguins Rhyme

Join in a playful exploration of language while voyaging to opposite ends of the world to observe the natural habitats of Icelandic puffins and Antarctic penguins. Rhyming text and striking photographs illuminate the graceful daily rituals of these two exotic birds.

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.

Publishers Weekly

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. (Mar.)

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.