Fly High, Little Puffling

This is a story that explores that inner nagging doubt many young readers will have felt themselves when the time comes to try something new. They might be off to a new school, trying a new club for the first time, learning to ride a bike independently… these milestones often seem insignificant when looking back, but at the time are enormous events often looming large in the anxious minds of the individual – or in this case puffling.

Little Puffling has been nervously anticipating the flight for winter which will soon be under way. He watches as the other birds soar high and effortless over the cliffs, and he confesses his fears to his mother – will he ever be able to make it all the way to where the sun hides all winter? Perhaps there is an important message here for young readers about a problem shared being a problem halved, as his mother patiently takes the little puffling on a flight around their local area. This enables him to steadily build up his flying skills without even realising, but also allows his mum to show him all the other animals that are learning new skills. The seal learning resilience when trying to fish, the otter learning determination to help them dive deep, the whale working on their whistling, the fawn learning how to stand for the first time… each of these snapshots offers the little puffling an example that encourages him to keep trying and he repeats the refrain throughout that these acts are such clever things to do and maybe he can do it too. This is something that young readers could easily learn and join in with and will perhaps help them to feel more confident about taking next steps themselves.

This title also offers a real glimpse of the natural world, in all its quiet beauty. We see infant animals of every form, silently, steadily making progress alongside the little puffling; we are reminded that even at night animals like the hare are still struggling to master something new; we are reminded that by facing our fears we are able to see the wonders of the world – the little puffling glimpses the northern lights, but without being brave enough to fly he would have missed this opportunity.

There is much for the young reader to absorb here in terms of messages and the illustrations are equally immersive. The text is less engaging and feels somewhat stilted as it switches between rhyming sections and those that don’t follow this pattern, but overall this title will perhaps work well as a reflection on all the animals around us we sometimes take for granted, or as a well timed title to support young readers moving on to the next step in their life over the summer.