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Puffin Peter

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Peter and Paul are the best of friends, but when Peter gets lost in a terrible storm he can't find Paul anywhere. With the help of a big blue whale Puffin Peter set off to find him. They find all kinds of birds that match Peter's description but none of them is quite like Paul.

40 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2011

4 people are currently reading
148 people want to read

About the author

Petr Horáček

85 books69 followers
Petr Horáček is the author-illustrator of Look Out, Suzy Goose and Silly Suzy Goose, as well as Run, Mouse, Run!; Bird, Fly High; A New House for Mouse; and Strawberries Are Red. He lives in England.

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5 stars
155 (25%)
4 stars
252 (42%)
3 stars
166 (27%)
2 stars
23 (3%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
Profile Image for Gerry.
Author 43 books118 followers
April 12, 2017
Peter and Paul, two puffins, are the best of friends and they spend their days happily fishing around their rocky island. And while doing so Paul always makes Peter laugh.

One day while they are out diving, a massive storm blows up , they get separated and Peter is lost.

When the storm is over Peter is floating on top of the sea and he wonders, 'Where am I?' and also 'Where is Paul?'

A passing whale spots Peter and asks him if he is lost. 'Yes,' answers Peter and tells the whale that he has also lost his best friend Paul.

Asking what Paul is like the whale learns that he is 'funny and noisy' and with that description he decides he knows where to look.

The whale carries Peter on his back to an island where the birds are funny and noisy but Peter says, 'Paul is not a parrot, Paul's feathers are black and white!'

Armed with the new information the whale sets off again and tells Peter he knows just where funny, noisy and black and white birds are. He tells Peter that it is cold at the place they are going to but when they arrive there the birds are as described but Peter has to say, 'Paul is not a penguin, Paul's beak is very colourful.'

Once again the whale transports Peter to another island to discover a funny, noisy, black and white with a colourful beak bird. This time Peter tells the helpful whale, 'Paul is not a toucan' and adds 'We are never going to find him.'

Peter is very sad and the whale is also a little disconsolate so they drift across the ocean. After a few days a very tiny island appears on the horizon but Peter is too sad to look. But the whale is alert and spots something in the sky and says, 'Look! What's that?'

It was a bird, black and white, with a colourful beak, funny and noisy ... and it was Paul!

Peter is overjoyed and the whale is also pleased albeit a little confused. 'So this is Paul,' he cries, 'Why didn't you tell me?' Tell you what?' says Peter. The whale smiles and says, 'That he's a puffin, just like you!'

Peter Horáček has given us a lovely colourful tale with a happy ending and it is just so beautifully illustrated as well.
Profile Image for E..
510 reviews45 followers
October 27, 2016
Boekje dat me werd aangeraden voor kinderen die van Mama Kwijt houden. Pieter de papegaaiduiker is echter een stuk lastiger. Sowieso omdat Pieter en Pim niet uit elkaar te houden zijn, en daarnaast omdat de tekst het er niet makkelijk op maakt. Niet zo geschikt voor kinderen die net Nederlands leren, verder wel leuk :)
67 reviews
December 10, 2018
This book is part of the reading challenge. It fits into the category ‘a book written by a non UK author. The author Petr Horáček was born and grew up in Prague. This book is about 2 puffins who get separated and one of the puffins finds a whale who helps him look for his friend. As they are looking for his friend they come across lots of different birds eg penguins and parrots. Therefore this book would be good for teaching children about different types of birds and you could link this to a science lesson on habitats as you see where the different birds live.
This book therefore also fits the category of a book where an animal is the main character.
336 reviews2 followers
September 29, 2019
Awwww what a lovely book! Really felt sad for Peter when he couldn’t find Paul and the illustrations heightened my emotions by being so beautiful and heart warming. Lovely book to do when starting the topics “birds” as you can look at different features of birds and their different habitats
Profile Image for Deb.
1,578 reviews20 followers
July 1, 2018
This was the favorite of the books I read to Alena this afternoon. I love the illustrations. They are bright and happy. The story is good too. I would like to read more by this author.
Profile Image for Tracy Schillemore.
3,810 reviews11 followers
April 4, 2019
This is kind of cute. A puffin gets lost and can't find his best friend so the whale takes him all over to look for him and they find many different kinds of birds.
Profile Image for Veronika Pizano.
1,088 reviews169 followers
June 26, 2022
Typická Horáčkovina, ktorá má svoj humor a gradáciu. Okrem Marty a Jonatána je toto jeho naša najobľúbenejšia kniha.
Profile Image for Giorgi Robakidze.
17 reviews7 followers
June 29, 2023
Not so smart 'remake' of Julia Donaldson's Where's My Mom?
P.S. And all the puffins look sad in it.
Profile Image for Paul.
990 reviews17 followers
October 17, 2021
Noah enjoyed this one, as did I. The whale had a funny voice too.
Profile Image for Erys.
36 reviews
December 29, 2023
Nádherné ilustrace Petra Horáčka a opět následně dojemný příběh (nejen) pro děti.

Knihy PH rozhodně doporučuji, pokud máte v rodině malé ratolesti, knížky si zamilují.

Spoiler alert: tuto knihu jsem četla před volbou prezidenta.
644 reviews6 followers
December 16, 2019
This book could be used alongside the teaching of classification to show children that some characteristics which are the same does not mean the things are the same. The birds are illustrated to look like children’s drawings, this could make the book more relatable to children as well as create opportunities for children to recreate characters following the same style.
Profile Image for Ema Mele.
99 reviews36 followers
December 8, 2019
Četly jsme s pětiletou neteří a bylo to super. Nejnadšenější jsem teda byla já a ségra, ale neteři to taky přišlo ok. :)
Profile Image for Jannah.
Author 1 book11 followers
June 4, 2017
Two puffins, Peter & Paul (apparently Mary didn't get the Puffin Party invite) are separated from each other and their home during a nasty storm.
Upon regaining consciousness, a kindly whale offers to help Peter find his friend-except Peter is apparently concussed and can only give snippets of description about Paul at a time, which leads to poor whale going on a wild goose (puffin?) chase of bringing Peter to wrong bird after wrong bird. Whale is able to amass all the information that Peter offers, but is at a loss until they happen to approach the puffins' islands and Paul finds THEM. The whale, after swimming all over from tropics to Antarctica, is understandably kind of miffed that Peter didn't bother to mention that, hey, Paul's a puffin like Peter. The exasperated whale drops them back off at home and washes his fins of the whole incident.
The story is much more child-friendly than the sort of snarky summary above and would be a good example of helping children learn about deductive reasoning and to wholly describe things rather than give pieces of information that may not be enough to make something accurately identifiable. Funny and noisy + black and white feathers + colorful beak + not a toucan (feels almost like a 20 questions?). The illustrations are nice, too.
Profile Image for Jessica.
11 reviews
November 16, 2021
Peter and Paul, two puffin best friends, spend their days laughing and fishing on their island. After a big storm blows up, they get separated and Peter is lost. Upon regaining consciousness, Peter finds a whale who helps him look for his friend. They journey all over from the tropics to Antarctica and, in the process, discover many birds including penguins and parrots in their search for Paul. The whale is very confused as Peter forgets to mention that Paul is a puffin just like him!
‘Puffin Peter’ is the second book of the author and illustrator Petr Horáček I have read (the first being ‘The Greedy Goat’). It is another excellently illustrated piece of work and story. It is a heart-warming, repetitive tale with a happy ending! It shows the power of friendship and the importance of helping other people in need. Additionally, this would be a great educational resource looking at different birds and their habitats. It would be a good book to use in an early years or KS1 classroom.
Profile Image for Amy Aldridge.
135 reviews2 followers
November 13, 2020
A really enjoyable story about friendship and determination. I enjoyed the repetitive structure of this story and found this made it easy to follow and understand, which would benefit KS1 and children who may be struggling to comprehend ideas in stories. Allows them to focus on what is happening without having to work out complicated story structures.
Profile Image for Erin.
1,497 reviews9 followers
October 7, 2022
This is very cute w/ great illustrations which is a hallmark of Petr Horáček for me. This is similar to Little Owl Lost and they could work well together in Storytime. Kids can guess which animal will show up next based on the description given.
Profile Image for Beth Pollard.
46 reviews
August 9, 2017
A heartwarming story of friendship and the lengths Peter the puffin will go to to be reunited with his friend Paul. Horáček adds a touch of humour as Paul's identity is mistaken for a variety of different birds with similar features. Really nice illustrations, full of texture and vibrancy!
Profile Image for Beronica.
186 reviews
March 19, 2018
Storytime preschoolers. This is a sweet book about Puffin Peter who tries to find their best friend. With the help of a friendly Whale, they search high and low for the friend. This is a very good author and has the most interesting stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
13k reviews483 followers
November 21, 2018
I wish there were more than three cases of mistaken identity. But maybe if there were that would overwhelm the subtle point of the book, which is something about knowing the essence of a thing, instead of focusing on elements thereof. Nice story, didn't overly wow me.
Profile Image for Melanie Hetrick.
4,633 reviews51 followers
January 13, 2021
Peter and Paul are both puffins and are best friends. During a storm, Peter is blown far away from their island. Thankfully a blue whale saves him and helps him get reunited with Paul.

Children will enjoy guessing what type of bird the whale will think to try next. Perfect for storytime.
Profile Image for Jody Cornelius.
253 reviews1 follower
December 20, 2021
I really like the artwork in this. It's crude in some ways, but very expressive in others. I love that kind of crossover. The story is pretty cute, the different birds that all show up are fun to see. I could see this being a fun read aloud for kindergarten.
Profile Image for Janet.
3,681 reviews37 followers
February 7, 2024
Paul the puffin is looking for his best friend Peter with the assistance of a blue whale. They visit several very colorful bird. It is the beautiful mixed media illustrations that make this story appealing. Love Horace’s art style and use of intense color!
Profile Image for RumBelle.
2,073 reviews19 followers
February 9, 2017
I love this story of a puffin's adventure to find his missing friend. He travels far and wide, and even makes a new friend, a blue whale. Heartwarming and thoroughly enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews

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