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A review by jennifermreads
Penguin the Magpie: The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family by Bradley Trevor Greive, Cameron Bloom
5.0
Hope and healing can come in unusual packages. For the Bloom family, they found a guiding star in the injured magpie they found in their yard. After wife and mom Sam sustained paralyzing injuries, the family struggled to recover and adapt but Sam had even darker struggles. Penguin, so named because of the magpie’s coloring, was nursed back to health and, in turn, she nursed the family.
It probably goes without saying that the prologue by Cameron Bloom detailing his relationship with his wife, the start of their marriage & family, and the accident that changed all their lives but especially Sam’s, was poignant. Cameron’s photographs are breathtaking. It is hard to remember these were not staged; this precious bird really was this connected to and tender with the family.
But, the most powerful part of the book proved to be the epilogue written by Sam Bloom. She pulls no punches about her injury, the darkness that surrounded her healing, her relief at finding hope in kayaking, and her bluntness with those new to injury and the journey they are beginning. She is also very frank with family members who may be reading her words. After years of working with people with disabilities, I can say that, as an outsider, Sam’s honesty would be appreciated by all involved in the recovery process of someone who is paralyzed. Too often, the knee-jerk reaction is to sugarcoat and gloss over. Sam just lays it all out and says “It is going to be hell” (not in those words exactly) but she does nudge toward promise and hope.
This is a beautiful story with gorgeous photographs. And, it only crossed my desk because of a pesky crow picking at the weather-striping on my library’s windows. He drove us all insane with his incessant pecking and persistent picking. Then a colleague said “Hey, have you heard about Penguin the Magpie?” and we all went racing to find the book on the shelf, eager for a positive story about a bird (because we were ready to throttle that crow!). But this book? It is about so much more than a bird.
It probably goes without saying that the prologue by Cameron Bloom detailing his relationship with his wife, the start of their marriage & family, and the accident that changed all their lives but especially Sam’s, was poignant. Cameron’s photographs are breathtaking. It is hard to remember these were not staged; this precious bird really was this connected to and tender with the family.
But, the most powerful part of the book proved to be the epilogue written by Sam Bloom. She pulls no punches about her injury, the darkness that surrounded her healing, her relief at finding hope in kayaking, and her bluntness with those new to injury and the journey they are beginning. She is also very frank with family members who may be reading her words. After years of working with people with disabilities, I can say that, as an outsider, Sam’s honesty would be appreciated by all involved in the recovery process of someone who is paralyzed. Too often, the knee-jerk reaction is to sugarcoat and gloss over. Sam just lays it all out and says “It is going to be hell” (not in those words exactly) but she does nudge toward promise and hope.
This is a beautiful story with gorgeous photographs. And, it only crossed my desk because of a pesky crow picking at the weather-striping on my library’s windows. He drove us all insane with his incessant pecking and persistent picking. Then a colleague said “Hey, have you heard about Penguin the Magpie?” and we all went racing to find the book on the shelf, eager for a positive story about a bird (because we were ready to throttle that crow!). But this book? It is about so much more than a bird.