Puffin Peter

The tale of a puffin separated from his friend provides a stage for Horacek’s (Jonathan and Martha) intense colors and rich textures. The storm that separates Peter from Paul unfolds across four panels as the puffins are tossed by churning waves, the sky growing blacker and the water’s bluish-green deepening. After the storm, a whale rescues Peter and volunteers to find Paul, asking what he’s like. “Funny and noisy,” is Peter’s reply. The birds the whale finds—parrots on one island, penguins on another—fit the description, but they aren’t Paul. In a striking aerial spread, the whale swims toward some familiar-looking islands with Peter barely visible on his back. It’s Peter’s home, and Paul waits there. “Why didn’t you tell me?” the whale asks as the two birds greet each other joyfully. “Tell you what?” says Peter. “That he’s a puffin, just like you!” the whale replies. There’s a lighthearted lesson there about communication—what’s obvious to one person isn’t obvious to another—and excitement, too, in the great, reassuring presence of the whale as he guards Peter on his search. Ages 3–5. (Mar.)