The Puffin Plan: Restoring Seabirds to Egg Rock and Beyond

This book reveals how the effort and determination of one person can make a HUGE difference in the conservation of endangered wildlife. It also illustrates how conservation projects that start small can have worldwide ramifications. The author describes frustrations and early failures, and how improvisation was used to overcome obstacles along the way toward finally achieving the goal of restoring puffins to the coastal islands of Maine, despite the initial pessimism of naysayers.

It turns out, "Thinking like a Puffin" is exactly what it takes to entice these handsome swimming seabirds back to their long-abandoned nesting colonies off the coast of Maine. In their new book, "The Puffin Plan: Restoring Seabirds to Egg Rock and Beyond", co-authors Stephen W. Kress and Derrick Z. Jackson share with readers, ages 12 and up, a remarkable success story, fueled by Steve’s tireless efforts and ingenious methodology: What would a Puffin do?Side-by-side with Steve and his crew, we endure pounding Atlantic winds and waves to build nesting burrows, secure decoys, scan the skies for birds, and wait. In addition to patience, we learn to meet frequent challenges with optimism, vision and resolve.This true story, conceived, lived, and written by a world-renown ornithologist, and enhanced with onsite color photos, broadens the meaning of experimentation, perseverance, stewardship, restoration, and coming home. It’s a teaching story that will inspire young people to dream big, think outside the box, problem-solve, and not give up.~ Tish McFadden

Written through a series of connected stories made it easy to read about the Puffin Project and learn about these birds as well as so many other living things connected to the project. Although aimed at a younger audience, as a well past grown adult I recommend it to adults as well. Fun to read about overcoming obstacles and failures as well as see that perseverence and determination by one can spread to others and make a real and very positive difference.

In this book, my daughter and I learned how important it is to have young children get great teachers to motivate and spark an interest in them and lead them to restore the natural environment for Animals and plants. I specially loved how this true story was captured by a researcher who had gone above and beyond; past rejections from the people who had written extensively about the Puffins. It is a reminder that, for every person that rejects your idea there are more to motivate you to do good for the environment we now live in and pass to the future generation.It is a must read book and once you start reading you are not going to put it away until you are done so sit in a comfortable couch or under a tree in a nice day to hear the birds sing to you and remind you that there are people who are dedicated to keep the plant healthy for all its inhabitants and to bring back those species that have long been gone from their natural homes.

What a fabulous story! Full disclosure - I have volunteered with Project Puffin many times and am always inspired by this great conservation story. In this rendition of the Project Puffin tale, middle school students will learn about one of the most successful wildlife restoration programs ever conceived. Sharing this story is a great way to engage students with the issues facing our planet and show them that one person can make a difference. Puffins are also incredibly personable and charming and reading about them is simply delightful. I recommend this book for all ages.

Wonderful to see a Black author and Black youth making a difference in climate action! Terrific programs for kids developed to foster future environmental stewards. Even includes lists of actions that kids can take at home.

As someone who has several times visited Matinicus Rock, an Atlantic puffin nesting site in Maine, I can personally attest to the beauty, thrill, and importance of these remarkable birds, which Stephen Kress and Derrick Jackson discuss with authority, passion, and detail in The Puffin Plan. The book is clearly written and well illustrated with photographs by Jackson. The authors intrigue as well as inform us with every chapter on the different aspects of puffins' lives, as well as the story of their repopulation in Maine. They and volunteers brought puffins back from a low of just one nesting pair in the state in the 1900's to 188 nesting pairs on Eastern Egg Rock in 2019. The twelve chapters have compelling titles, such as "Words That Changed My Life" and "Seabird Superheroes." Kress and Jackson show you how the birds' flashy colored beaks and black and white "headwaiter" outfits belie their remarkable abilities. For instance, puffins can carry up to ten fish, in a row, in their beaks without dropping any (the British record for a puffin is 62!). They fly for miles over the ocean to fish for their young. They spend the majority of their lives at sea. They mate for life. The book concludes with specific tips on how readers can get involved in supporting threatened bird life, just as the authors did themselves in their youths. There are now colonies of bright, frisky, delightful puffins up and down the Maine coast, thanks to folks like Kress and Jackson. Their enthusiasm for birds and their conservation is compelling.