Puffins! is a new (2026) nonfiction picture book. Written by Maria Gianferrari and illustrated by Maris Wicks, it is both fun and informative. In fact, in many ways, it is a model of what nonfiction picture books can be and do.
It educates readers on puffins, telling this birds story by focusing on Eastern Egg Rock island (in Maine), adding to this geographic focus by a chronological and conceptual focus: following puffins through their life cycle. Within this frame the images change markedly. Some two-page spreads feature many birds flying (and sounding) in all directions, with some in the water and some on land. Other pages walk readers through smaller but still crucial cycles, like a page that shows two puffin mates pairing up, or another that shows baby birds maturing inside an incubated egg shell.
The images are key here, as colors, sizes, focal points, and directions change: one might show a bird spiraling in the air, another a bird diving deep in the sea.
This isn’t perfect. Some things get introduced, like Father Puffin driving away a younger intruder bird, and then not picked up again. (And what happens when the young puffling tries to eat a fish too big for it? Does it choke?)
But both author and illustrator have first hand experience observing puffins, and their love and expertise come through clearly.
