Reviews

The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell

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maireador20's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

2.5

edriessen's review

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4.0

It's books like this that make me wonder: how many amazing stories are out there? It feels like an honor to be part of the journey of Tom and his penguin by reading this story. And to end with a personal note: I have never been this close to tears by a book as I was with this one.

daniela_viana's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

swivelandjess's review

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4.0

Very cute little book, and full of charming stories despite Michell's only spending 8 months with the bird. If the book was just about the penguin I think I might have given it 5 stars, but a lot of it felt like filler. It would have been better as two books--one long, detailed piece about his time exploring South America as a wanderlustful 23-year-old, and another little novella about the penguin and the boys at the school.

vodaas's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

sohxpie's review

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5.0

This is such a lovely story, it's almost hard to believe that it's a true story. Juan Salvador is just the best, it was really interesting to read about how he was rescued and his journey from that point. Seeing how many people cared for and loved one little penguin was honestly just great, I really enjoyed it. I think my favourite part was reading about how the penguin had such a positive effect on the children in the boarding school. In particular, seeing how confident and happy Diego became because of a tiny little bird really was just really heart-warming. The inclusion of environmental issues such as the oil spill that led to Michell finding the penguin was extremely important and I am glad that it was constantly touched upon throughout the book. I think it was great that Michell also included information about Mundo Marino and the work they do in helping sick animals. I think this is a fantastic book, a lovely, heart-warming (well for the most part anyway) story that also does well in raising awareness on environmental issues (even if it isn't the main focus of the book).