Nights of the Pufflings

FROM THE PUBLISHER

On a tiny island off the coast of Iceland, Halla and her friends wait with anticipation. Every spring, millions of puffins, the clowns of the sea, return to nest, lay eggs, and raise their chicks to pufflings. That means Halla and her friends will be busy in August when the pufflings venture out at night to take their first flight. Then, all of the children stay out all night, too. During the nights of the pufflings they rescue thousands of stranded young birds, and in the daytime set them safely free at the beach. In Nights of the Pufflings, Bruce McMillan captures the unique and endearing story of an island tradition.

FROM THE CRITICS

"A fine book to foster empathy in young people as well as to inform them."

Children's Literature - Dr. Judy Rowen

This beautifully photographed book manages to teach some natural history, expose children to an unfamiliar culture, and convey the sense that children can make a difference in our world. In Iceland, children scan the skies for the arrival of the breeding pufflings. Once the chicks called pufflings are ready to leave the children rescue hundreds of the birds stranded in town after being disoriented by the lights. The pufflings are lovingly taken to the sea and released.

Children's Literature - Beverly Kobrin

When baby puffins born on Heimaey (HAY-mah-ay) Island, Iceland, make their maiden flights from hillside burrows to the sea, some land instead on city streets, disoriented by their lights. Island children stay awake during those nights to rescue the chicks from prowling dogs or cats. Mr. McMillan follows two elementary graders and their friends as they observe the puffin parents return to their island burrows to raise families. On the Nights of the Pufflings, the children gather up the grounded birds who've lost their way to the sea, carry them to the shore, and toss them out to safety.

School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-An extremely handsome photo essay that shows a breeding season in a colony of North Atlantic puffins on Heimaey, largest of the Westmann Islands off the southwest coast of Iceland. McMillan hangs his informative text on the framework of young Halla and her friends, who await the first flight of the pufflings with eager joy. Many of these fledglings fail to reach the sea on this maiden flight, landing in Halla's village below the cliffs. Here the children wait, armed with cardboard boxes and flashlights, racing to rescue the pufflings before they become prey for cats or dogs, or run over by passing vehicles. Staying up all night, sleeping late into the morning, the children spend two unusual weeks rescuing thousands of baby birds and releasing them to the sea. McMillan's crisp full-color photos record courting and nesting behavior of the puffins and the activities of the children waiting for and performing their rescues. A fine book to foster empathy in young people as well as to inform them, and to show them that children can make a difference in the world.-Patricia Manning, Eastchester Public Library, NY

School Library Journal