Here’s what I think you need to know about this delightful book:
1. First of all, I need to thank Lauren for putting this book on my radar. You should head to her review for a longer, more thoughtful review than this one.
2. What you’ll find inside this true story is this: a young British man moves to Argentina in the 1970s. He’s longing to stretch his wings and discover a bit of the world for himself. He’s employed as a professor in an English boarding school there, which affords him some free time to explore the continent on his motorbike. During one of his adventures in Uruguay, he finds a beach completely devastated by an oil spill. Hundreds of dead penguins covered the beach – it looks like all living things have been destroyed. He continues walking along the beach and discovers a penguin that is miraculously still alive. He “rescues” it himself, cleans off the oil that covers it, and attempts to smuggle it back into Argentina so that he can figure out what to do with it. And hence his world is changed, forever. I think you’ll fall completely in love with this penguin, now named Juan Salvador, and delight in both his actual personality and ingenuity, as well as the charming anthropomorphizing liberties that Tom Mitchell takes in describing his friendship with this remarkable bird. But wait, there’s more! You’ll also get a dash of adventurous travel writing and thoughtful descriptions of Argentina during a tumultuous period of its history.
3. If this sounds good to you so far, you could find a print or ebook copy and read it, and you would probably enjoy it. OR… you can get the audiobook and let Bill Nighy read it to you, penguin voice and all.
4. (SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT) Are there any books that feature a human’s friendship with a beloved animal that don’t end with said animal dying? Probably not many, and this one, unfortunately, isn’t an exception. Which isn’t much of a surprise considering he met Juan Salvador 40 years ago. However – this isn’t one of those animal books that makes you wonder if it was funded by a tissue company. It’s quite sad when Juan Salvador passes, but the majority of the book is about his wonderful personality and life and the positive impact he made on all of the humans around him, and I didn’t find the inevitable end to be completely devastating. I point this out because I’m a huge animal lover and nothing makes me more hesitant about an animal book than whether or not the animal’s death will undo me. I refused to go to school in third grade the day we were scheduled to finish Charlotte’s Web. I read ahead the night before, cried for hours in bed, and refused to go in and subject myself to it all over again. So if you, like me, are wary of such books – fear not. This one is much more uplifting than weep inducing.
It should also be noted that the main image in the blog header above is not Juan Salvador. It doesn’t sound like any photos of him survived, which is a shame. But it is a photo of a Magellianic Penguin, the same species as Juan Salvador, so he would have looked quite similar. It’s hard to handle the cuteness, isn’t it?
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Buy this book at an Independent bookstore.
Main penguin blog image is by Pablo Fernicola. (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Nope nope nope. No animal books with that thing that happens to animals in animal books. lol
DO IT. This one isn’t as bad a thing as most things are when they come up. It’s worth it.
Agree 100% with Lauren – don’t let that stop you from enjoying this wonderful book! It’s really not that sad, I promise. I was moved, but no tears. And it’s just such a fun, wonderful story.
You don’t even know how happy I am you found this one write-aboutable. First because I loved it and second because you always wonder when you love and recommend something what happens to it out in the ether. Now at least I know you loved it enough, too. Thank you for writing about Juan Salvado’s demise. That’s something I have an issue with as well, and one reason I hesitated with this book (as with many others). But due to the timing it was obvious it was going to happen, so I was prepared (kinda ) to deal with it on the pages. I love the picture you found, I was SO hoping Tom would find one. Thank you for the shout-outy, too.
I know exactly what you mean – I’m always so curious about how people end up feeling about the books I’ve recommended. You never can be entirely sure how other people will react to the things you’ve loved. In this case, I absolutely loved it. It was such a treat to listen to! I got the audiobook from the library via Overdrive, but I think I might need to own a copy of it, I will want to listen again someday.
I’m so sad that he wasn’t able to find a photo or video footage of Juan Salvado – I was really hoping we would be able to see an actual photo! But alas, photos of other Magellianic will have to do, and they really are so ridiculously cute.
I read an arc, and I definitely need a copy for the shelf and maybe the audio. It’s not often that happens, but this one is just one of THOSE. I loved the photo you found, it’s perfect!
It is! I’m going to likely end up with both editions too.
Sidenote: I just finished The Moon by Whale Light by Diane Ackerman. Have you heard of it or read it? It’s so lovely. Nature writing at its best. It’s comprised of 4 long essays, each about a difference species/order: bats, crocodilia, whales, and penguins. It’s so lovely, and I think you’d like it too. (Very different from our penguin friend since it’s not so much about individual animals, but when I finished I thought “I need to tell Lauren about this one.”)
I have NOT, but I just bought it. Thank you! Why does her name sound so familiar? I perused her backlist (which is lengthy) and nothing rings a bell. Maybe her name is familiar from some other arena. In any event, thanks for thinking of me re this one, sounds totally up my alley!
Hmmm she might sound familiar from a bestseller she had last year – The Human Age. She also had a very popular book called The Zookeeper’s wife many years ago. But regardless – I hope you love The Moon By Whale Light as much as I did! :D
This sounds like an awesome book. Adding it to the TBR now!
Yay! It’s so much fun, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :D
Ahahaha, until I got to number four, I was planning to comment to inquire if the penguin dies at the end. DAMMIT ANIMAL BOOKS.
Oh don’t let it stop you from reading it!! I promise it’s not that sad. If you go into it prepared, I don’t think you’ll be devastated. And reading about this quirky, amazing penguin is so worth it, I promise!
Some movie file of Juan Salvado survie and Penguin Books UK have put it up on YouTube