The Puffins Are Back!

by Gail Gibbons

It happens every year, in the spring. After months of living on the open sea, far away from land, puffins return to the rocky coast of Maine. These colorful birds come back to shore for only a short time, to mate and to raise their young. Not too long ago, the arrival of spring brought fewer and fewer puffins back to Maine. So many birds had been hunted for their meat and feathers that the puffin was in danger of dying out. In 1969, scientists from the National Audubon Society worked out a plan they hoped would insure the survival of Maine's puffin population. No one was certain the plan would work. It would involve many people and many puffins, and it would be years before anyone could say for sure if the project had been successful. Today it seems clear that the plan has worked very well. Every year more and more puffins return to Maine in the spring. There's great excitement in the air when the call goes out -- The puffins are back! Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1991 (NSTA/CBC)

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Animals, Nonfiction, Childrens, Nature, Birds

32 pages, Hardcover

Published April 4, 1991

About the author

From gailgibbons.com: I was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1944. Even as a little child, I was always busy putting books together. Sometimes I would bind them with yarn to hold the pages together. I've always loved drawing and painting. I was also a very curious child. My parents tell me that I was always asking lots and lots of questions.

Later, I went on to the University of Illinois, where I studied graphic design. Then I moved to New York City, where I got a job doing artwork for television shows. Eventually I was asked to do the artwork for a children's show. While doing that show, some of the children asked me if I had ever thought of doing children's books. My mind immediately recalled how much I enjoyed doing that type of thing when I was a child. So I put an idea for a book together and right away a publisher bought it. That book was called Willy and His Wheel Wagon. Since then, over 170 books that I have written and illustrated have been published. The type of books I write are non-fiction books. This is because I love researching so much. I get to ask lots of questions, just like when I was a kid. I also get to travel and meet lots of interesting people. While doing research for my book Nature's Green Umbrella: Tropical Rain Forests, I traveled to two islands where there are tropical rain forests, Saba and Dominica. I also had a great time writing and illustrating the book. I get a lot of pleasure from doing the type of work I do.

Reviews

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why, thank you Gail Gibbons. Honestly. I had no idea puffins existed in the United States. I thought they were an Iceland thing. And now I know not only that puffins colonize in Maine, but they're thriving there, rubbing their little beaks together affectionately and eschewing their Newfoundland origins thanks to some persistent scientists at the National Audubon Society.

A 'new and updated' edition of a 1991 informational picture book. The artwork still looks pretty 1991, but kids will be so absorbed in the plight of the puffin that they might be willing to forgive the scientists their wardrobe choices.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alissa prefers stories to "textbooks."

[Sam Wojtaszek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for you after you saw a picture of a puffin and said you thought that was the cutest bird. They do look like little clowns! This book was not only a great introduction to the life cycle of Puffins and a close look at their habitat in Maine, but also showed with clear, simple illustrations and text, what a wildlife biologist does-- how they make observations, tag birds and chart information about a species year after year. One more potential career option for my little animal lover? Who knows?

[SamZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wish there would have been photographs in this book. It would have made it 4.5 or even 5 stars for me.