Weekly Penguin

Weekly Penguin 512

Now that Penguin Cafe has been fully covered and we're trying to schedule another plushie and figurine photo session, time to check out some penguin books. And this one is actually both a book about a penguin and published by Penguin Books, so yay!

The Penguin Lessons: A True Story by Tom Mitchell is a memoir, recounting his days in the 1970s when he was working as a boarding school teacher in Argentina. Whilst on holiday to Uruguay, he came across a penguin caught in an oil slick. Line anyone with even a fraction of a heart, Mitchell rescued the little fellow – only to find out that the thankful bird refused to leave his side.

And what can you do at that point? Why, name the bird 'Juan Salvador' and smuggle it through the customs to Argentina, of course! And so begun an amazing, eccentric and cute companionship for the ages. You could say that Juan Salvador becomes the ambassador of positivity, brightening the lives of everyone who gets to meet it.

The book has been praised pretty much by everyone who's read it – and for a good reason. I strongly recommend it. In fact, doing my fact checking on this write-out, I realised there's an audio book version read by the great Bill Nighy. I might have to seek that one out as well!

Added: 2017-05-30