School Library Journal (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

K-Gr 2 This title offers the ultimate comparison study for younger readers. Is a puffin like a ladder? A house? A newspaper? A pair of jeans? A goldfish? A shovel? A snake? A helicopter? Are they a little alike, or a lot? Is a puffin like a penguinor is it so special that it's one of a kind? In a conversational stream of questions, youngsters are also asked to think a bit deeper before the page turns. How are birds like snakes? (They both hatch from eggs.) How is a newspaper like a puffin? (Both are black and white.) Large spreads highlight digitally created images with bold colors and patterns. A bit of humor, visual hints, opportunities for inference, and motion-inspired figures pull readers from page to page. "What is a puffin?" A final list summarizes the creature's attributes, but perhaps readers will agreethere's nothing quite like a puffin.— Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

ALA Booklist (Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2011)

Soltis' charming debut picture book invites young readers to think about similarities and differences by comparing a puffin to various seemingly unrelated things: a shovel (both can dig), a newspaper (both are black and white), and a pair of blue jeans (two legs), among others. So while it's true that there's nothing quite like a puffin, it turns out there are lots of things that are a little (just a little) puffin-ish. The simple text is likely to draw children in with its conversational tone nes like But look penguin can't fly! invite participation well as its cliffhanger page-turns. Kolar's bold, digitally rendered illustrations are a graphic mix of crisp shapes, fun patterns, and bright colors, and the characters' facial expressions amplify the humor e disgruntled goldfish sharing his bowl with the large bird is priceless d children will easily connect with the gleeful and confident puffin. A fun, thought-provoking look at how we classify the world around us.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Several essential facts about puffins emerge from this engaging, cheerful and astonishingly simple taxonomic exercise, filled with humor and a dynamic conversational style both visual and textual. Soltis' relaxed, forthright words and sentences build a momentum of anticipation and discovery—first an initial and then repeated assertion that there is "nothing like a puffin," followed by a series of comparative observations in which it turns out that a particular animal or item actually is in some way (two legs, hatches from eggs, swims) perhaps a little like a puffin. Kolar's eye-catching, full page, digitally created cartoons feature a merry-looking puffin in every opening, interacting with the objects or bright-eyed creatures of comparison: a newspaper, a pair of jeans, a goldfish, a snake, a shovel, a helicopter, a penguin. The colors on the puffin's bill are repeated in the figures and vivid backgrounds throughout. Young listeners won't know everything about puffins after a reading or two of this lively discourse, but they will have an idea about how to relate new information to something already known. What makes two things alike and what makes them different—what, indeed, confers individuality and the quality of being uniquely amazing—is exuberantly celebrated in a puffin-affectionate package. (Picture book. 2-5)

Horn Book (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

The narrator of this clever book declares with sturdy confidence that there's nothing like a puffin: not a ladder or a house or a newspaper...except that the last is "black and white"--like a puffin! What's more, jeans have two legs, just like a puffin; and so on. Bold yet muted hues nicely match the retro look of the digital art.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Much like her eponymous puffin, Soltis shows her mischievous side in her debut picture book, a playful exploration of unexpected comparisons with twists that will have readers reconsidering the ways in which disparate things can be surprisingly similar. "What a marvelous creature, one of a kind and amazing," she writes of the puffin. After discussing how a ladder and a house are nothing like a puffin, the narrator runs into a bit of trouble. "A newspaper, to be sure, is nothing like a puffin.... A newspaper has pages. It's black and white. But wait-a puffin is black and white, too! What are the chances?" This epiphany leads to others (a puffin can swim like a goldfish and dig like a shovel) as Kolar's (Big Kicks) bold, cheerful cartoons show the bird causing lighthearted havoc, tearing the homeowner's newspaper and biting a snake on the tail. What's more, his restrained palette reinforces the similarities Soltis so effectively uncovers, e.g., the house's awning is striped with the same orange, yellow, and blue of the puffin's beak. Delightful, thought-provoking fun. Ages 4-6. (Sept.)

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Several essential facts about puffins emerge from this engaging, cheerful and astonishingly simple taxonomic exercise, filled with humor and a dynamic conversational style both visual and textual. Soltis' relaxed, forthright words and sentences build a momentum of anticipation and discovery—first an initial and then repeated assertion that there is "nothing like a puffin," followed by a series of comparative observations in which it turns out that a particular animal or item actually is in some way (two legs, hatches from eggs, swims) perhaps a little like a puffin. Kolar's eye-catching, full page, digitally created cartoons feature a merry-looking puffin in every opening, interacting with the objects or bright-eyed creatures of comparison: a newspaper, a pair of jeans, a goldfish, a snake, a shovel, a helicopter, a penguin. The colors on the puffin's bill are repeated in the figures and vivid backgrounds throughout. Young listeners won't know everything about puffins after a reading or two of this lively discourse, but they will have an idea about how to relate new information to something already known. What makes two things alike and what makes them different—what, indeed, confers individuality and the quality of being uniquely amazing—is exuberantly celebrated in a puffin-affectionate package. (Picture book. 2-5)