Scan barcode
bunnybookslife's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Quick, cozy, cute, wholesome book about a man who befriends a penguin. Lovely. <3
patchworkbunny's review
4.0
The Penguin Lessons is a mix of memoir and travel writing, with an adorable penguin at the centre. I was struck by the apparent intelligence of Juan Salvador. When Tom first rescues the penguin, he struggles as you would expect a wild animal to. Yet as soon as Tom starts cleaning the oil off his feathers, he settles down and overs his wings as if helping. It’s like he was aware of what Tom was doing. And the rest of the book has plenty more examples of this potential awareness, even if Tom himself admits to anthropomorphising him at times.
If you’re expecting a book just filled with cute penguin anecdotes, you may be disappointed. However I enjoyed the travel writing aspects as well. Set during the 1970s in Argentina, Tom is working at a private school where he lives with Juan Salvador. In this time, there is a lot of political upheaval in the country and his time there touches a little on it. It was also fascinating to read about the hyperinflation. When he first arrived he was given money and told to spend it all at once on things to trade as the money could become worthless overnight.
Tom also spends some time travelling around South America, which was how he first came across Juan Salvador in Uruguay. He details some time spent living with gauchos, Argentine cowboys, and a trip down to a penguin colony. He also learns how it’s best not to mention the Falklands if you’re English…
The book contains cute illustrations by Neil Baker between chapters. In the absense of any remaining photographic evidence, I like to think they capture the penguin's personality.
I learnt a little about penguins that I didn’t know, but probably more about Argentina. Overall it’s a charming little book, even if Tom does come across as a certain generation of posh, Englishman now and then. Yet he did seem to show genuine affection towards the cleaning staff and some of the less fortunate boys at the school.
If you’re expecting a book just filled with cute penguin anecdotes, you may be disappointed. However I enjoyed the travel writing aspects as well. Set during the 1970s in Argentina, Tom is working at a private school where he lives with Juan Salvador. In this time, there is a lot of political upheaval in the country and his time there touches a little on it. It was also fascinating to read about the hyperinflation. When he first arrived he was given money and told to spend it all at once on things to trade as the money could become worthless overnight.
Tom also spends some time travelling around South America, which was how he first came across Juan Salvador in Uruguay. He details some time spent living with gauchos, Argentine cowboys, and a trip down to a penguin colony. He also learns how it’s best not to mention the Falklands if you’re English…
The book contains cute illustrations by Neil Baker between chapters. In the absense of any remaining photographic evidence, I like to think they capture the penguin's personality.
I learnt a little about penguins that I didn’t know, but probably more about Argentina. Overall it’s a charming little book, even if Tom does come across as a certain generation of posh, Englishman now and then. Yet he did seem to show genuine affection towards the cleaning staff and some of the less fortunate boys at the school.
rachel_a_'s review against another edition
3.0
Cute story but I couldn't get into it feels like there's lots of padding.
gloridays's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
jamie_von_hagen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
3.0
I read this after returning home from Africa where I developed a keen interest in penguins. I suppose I just had high hopes as I've read so many animal stories that were truly wonderful.
This isn't a bad book, it's just not enough about the penguin for me. I bought a penguin memoir to read about the delightful anecdotes of a charming penguin, not read about rugby, politics and the authors penguin-less adventures.
Another reviewer mentioned that this would be more suited to a blog post than a book and I feel that's the perfect way to describe this story.
I gathered that the author lost all the photos of his penguin but the dearth of photos did take away from the story in my opinion.
I rated this book at three stars for "average". It did have many problems with engaging the reader yet the stories about the penguin balanced out what could have been a very sloppy and long-winded read.
This isn't a bad book, it's just not enough about the penguin for me. I bought a penguin memoir to read about the delightful anecdotes of a charming penguin, not read about rugby, politics and the authors penguin-less adventures.
Another reviewer mentioned that this would be more suited to a blog post than a book and I feel that's the perfect way to describe this story.
I gathered that the author lost all the photos of his penguin but the dearth of photos did take away from the story in my opinion.
I rated this book at three stars for "average". It did have many problems with engaging the reader yet the stories about the penguin balanced out what could have been a very sloppy and long-winded read.
turquoisetyto's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
mgsantoro's review against another edition
4.0
This was very interesting and fun. A great family read.