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  • Puffin Peter by Petr Horáček
  • Jeannette Hulick
Horáček, Petr . Puffin Peter; written and illustrated by Petr Horáček. Candlewick, 2013. 34p. ISBN 978-0-7636-6572-2 $16.99 R 3-5 yrs.

Best friends Peter and Paul, two nearly identical puffins, are separated by a storm while diving at sea. Peter ends up on the back of a blue whale, who helps him look for Paul, guided by Peter's descriptions. When Peter tells the whale that Paul is "funny and noisy," the whale takes him first to an island of parrots: "'Paul is not a parrot,' said Peter. 'Paul's feathers are black and white!'" The whale then takes him to an island of penguins but, unlike them, Paul has a colorful beak, so that's not right; next, they visit a toucan, but that's not Paul, either. Peter is ready to give up when they spot a bird flying near some tiny islands: "It was black and white, with a colorful beak. It was funny and noisy. . . It was Paul!" Audiences, who know what Paul looks like from the outset, will relish the humor of the whale's mistakes, and the search for a bird that fits Peter's description will engage youngsters in some beginning sorting and classification skills. The short, streamlined text and large, bold illustrations increase this title's value for group storytimes as well. Multiple layers and shadings of color give Horácek's mixed media art a textured and dramatic fresco-like flair; the puffins' striking coloring contrasts effectively with the sunny yellows and deep blues and greens of the backgrounds, and the compositions are appropriately focused on Peter and his pal. The separated friends story, vibrant illustrations, and casual introduction to simple deductive reasoning will make this a hit with the preschool crowd. Read it in tandem with "A Lost Button" from Lobel's Frog and Toad Are Friends (BCCB 3/71) for additional practice with classification skills.

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