THE PUFFIN KEEPER

Hugh Laurie's warm, intimate storyteller's voice is the perfect match for this pleasingly old-fashioned story. Allen is rescued at age 6, along with his mother, from a shipwreck by the Puffin Island lighthouse keeper, Benjamin Postlethwaite. Years later, Allen returns to Puffin Island, off the coast of Cornwall, England, and strikes up a lifelong friendship with Ben. Together they nurse a young puffin back to health, and Allen teaches Ben to read. Laurie's voice for Ben is gruff and kind; Allen's French mother has the appropriate accent. Allen loves the sea, and author Morpurgo's descriptions of the natural world and the wheels and dives and calls of seabirds set the scene beautifully. Listening to this brief audiobook feels like stepping back in time. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2022]