Puffin Peter
Peter and Paul are a pair of best puffin pals who keep each other laughing. One day, though, while they’re out diving through the air, a storm tears through, and Peter gets lost. Paul awakens on the back of a friendly whale, who wants to help. When Paul describes his friend only as funny and noisy, the two begin a quest that takes them to parrots, toucans, and penguins, accruing more descriptors (black-and-white feathers, a colorful beak) as they go, until they come upon Peter, cruising through the air, safe and unharmed. Rough strokes and washes of color create a powerful sense of the oceans, beaches, jungles, and skies and present multihued and appealing characters, filling in the story told by the very basic prose. In the end, the characters simply stumble upon each other, but very young audiences will feel the suspense and relief of finding a lost pal and will enjoy this short and colorful diversion. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Jesse Karp