Tiny's Brave Rescue

Call the Puffins #2

by Cath Howe, Ella Okstad (Illustrator)

Welcome back to the island of Egg where a group of young puffins are training to join a search and rescue team. Tiny is worried about whether he is good enough to join the team, particularly as he can't always see very well. But luckily Muffin and his other teammates are there to help. Together they can face anything – even a scary wild cat on the beach!

102 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2023

About the author

Cath Howe is an author and teacher working in South West London writing for, and working with, Key Stage 2 primary age children.

Her first two books were published in 2012 by Pearson in their Bug Club, “The Curse of the Highwayman” and “The Highwayman’s Revenge”. She has won prizes for stories, poems and monologues and even written a musical. Over the past seven years, she has also led children to victory in local festivals performing her work.

Cath Howe runs workshops in schools on everything to do with writing and performing, teaches gifted writers, coaches children for auditions, develops plays and scripts for festivals; everything about being inspired and creative.

Member of SCWBI (Society of Children's Writers of the British Isles), NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education), The Society of Authors and Writer in Residence at Kingston University Writing School.

Reviews

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiny and the other puffins in training to be Yellow Cap rescue puffins are working on their Caring badges. They have to take care of an egg through an obstacle course, and then they get called out to rescue a real egg. But Tiny is finding the challenges extra difficult. Is he just not cut out to be a Yellow Cap?

In this adventure the source of Tiny’s troubles is an undiagnosed visual issue. The target readers are around the age when they start to realize if they need glasses, so this will be a relatable problem to many readers and help them feel like they aren’t the only one. Tiny, Muffin, and the other young puffins have good, caring hearts and are eager to help others so they are great examples, and the leader is wise enough to catch on to Tiny’s troubles and finds a way to help him.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: A predator tries to pounce on Tiny, but is thwarted.
Ethnic diversity: NA, characters are all animals
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Tiny has vision problems but doesn’t realize it and it affects his self-confidence/self-worth. He is helped by a wise adult.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute! Puffins who come and save the day when things go wrong! Tiny is such a lovely puffin who just wants to try his best… but he doubts himself so much… sometimes we just need a bit of help (from friends or otherwise!). Cute illustrations too!

[Kinzie Moffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute, my kids made me read the whole book in one sitting!

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering how slender these books are it was a surprise that this second one came so long after the first – but at least there is already promise of the third. For I think these are perfectly decent little reads for decent little readers. Tiny and Muffin are still intent on being fully-qualified rescue puffins, one of the Unflappables – only training is not going Tiny's way, a fellow puffin keeps having a dig, and real rescue and adventure is always around the corner. Can Tiny prove he's worth his place on the programme?

I thought this would be about being slow (like Tiny), being a bully (like the wise-cracking other tyke and his bragging habits), or perhaps something else – until the proof of the book's narrative was shown to us. But rest assured this is not just A Message, for it is fun as well – fun with some rather heavy-handed puffin nature notes here and there. The balance of edifying moral, junior biology lesson and entertainment might be a touch off, but I don't think it's ever unreasonably so, and this makes for a quirky little package, much like the puffin in real life, of course. Looking back I see the first one was all set-up and exposition, with too little given over to the drama. Dramas in this series are definitely going to be on the slight side, but we are a young audience for this kind of thing, and as a result that's not a major issue – this volume exceeds the promise suggested by the first. What matters more is that we come to love Tiny, and engage with all that he and his fellow cadets are going through, and that comes very easily.

[A.M. Loughrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic early reader from one of my favourite authors. Cath Howe always manages to make me think and Call the Puffins! Tiny’s Brave Rescue is no exception. This fun, entertaining adventure incorporates themes of empathy, perseverance and team work. The short chapters and larger font makes the book highly accessible to children who are becoming more independent with their reading.

I like how all the way through we see the world through Tiny’s eyes, a bit blurry at first but he gets there in the end. It was a lovely touch the puffins call humans ‘long legs’. A very apt description.

The gorgeous black and white illustrations compliment the text perfectly showing the puffin’s distinct characters and subtle differences. I like the fact a map of the Island of Egg has been included at the beginning of the book. I think this would have been more useful if the key landmarks, such as the Wings and Things supplies store, the winding track, the windmill, the beach where the bucket could be found and the burrow were labelled. This fantastic addition would then help further comprehension and understanding.

At the back of the book there are some puffin facts with black and white photos to inspire young readers to find out more about these amazing creatures.

Tiny and Muffin are most definitely a dynamic duo.