Polly and the Puffin Books In Order

Publication Order of Polly and the Puffin Books

The name ‘Polly and the Puffin’ refers to a series of novels written by Jenny Colgan. The books are written with very young audiences in mind.

+The Story

Jenny Colgan is an author of adult novels. And she has garnered a reputation for producing romantic comedies, in particular, the ‘Little Beach Street Bakery’ novels. Of course, some fans might know Jenny from all the work she has done for the ‘Doctor Who’ literary universe.

As such, it might come as a surprise to learn that this author of science fiction and romantic comedies has also written children’s books. However, that is exactly what the Polly and the Puffin series is.

The books are pretty short, as one would expect from children’s books, barely a hundred pages long. And they are beautifully illustrated, delivering the message and the emotion behind each scene. That isn’t always the case with many children’s books.

In fact, most children’s books only endeavor to deliver images that most accurately describe the words on the page. Jenny Colgan has had the pleasure of working with an artist that also manifests the emotions behind the scenes she writes.

The Polly and the Puffin series follows the adventures of a girl called Polly and a Puffin called Neil. General audiences won’t react to Neil, at least not until they read the Polly and the Puffin series.

However, longtime fans of Jenny Colgan will probably squeal because they know Neil is not a wholly unique creation of the Polly and the Puffin Books. Neil the puffin first appeared in the ‘Little Beach Street Bakery’ series.

Neil wasn’t just popular. He was a big hit, so much that Jenny Colgan fans started tweeting about him and making fan pages online for the puffin. Jenny Colgan heard her fans. She realized that Neil had grown so popular amongst readers of the Bakery series that it only made sense to give them, even more, Neil via his own series.

And that is what the Polly and the Puffin series does. It gives even more attention to the funny and engaging puffin. Neil comes into the picture when Polly discovers the puffin in her house. By the time Polly meets Neil, the puffin has been injured.

And Polly’s empathy is such that she is unwilling to cast Neil out of their home. Rather, she decides to take care of the little creature, nursing him until he regains his health. At some point, it looks like Jenny is gearing up for a tear-jerking scene that will see Neil separated from Polly.

However, it soon becomes apparent that Polly and Neil were meant to be in one another’s lives. The Polly and the Puffin series then focuses on exploring their relationship even as it expands upon Polly’s personal life.

The books delve into Polly’s family situation, the anxiety they deal with every time there fisherman of a father goes out to sea and the changes that inevitably enter Polly’s life. When Polly eventually goes to school, Neil receives an opportunity to make a few new friends.

The Polly and the Puffin series is very kid friendly. All the content is clean and the language is very safe. In some cases, Jenny definitely plays with a few unnecessarily complicated words, especially for the age range the books were written.

However, for the most part, this book can be enjoyed by any child that is only learning to read. The books can also be read to children. Even though they are simplistic, the Polly and the Puffin books have a lot of heart to them.

The stories that Jenny writes have emotional stakes and they will leave children yearning for more, regardless of whether they are reading for themselves or if you are reading to them.

+The Author

Jenny Colgan is a Scottish author. She primarily writes science fiction and romance, though she has been known to dabble with children’s books. The author went to Edinburgh University. Upon finishing her studies, Jenny went into the health service.

However, her heart wasn’t really in it, which is why she put so much of her time into her work as a cartoonist. The author’s first novel hit the shelves in 2000. Since that first romantic comedy, Jenny has garnered a reputation for writing heartwarming chick lit.

Of course, fans of science fiction will know her for her contribution to Doctor Who.

As a child, Jenny loved ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. She was also quite obsessed with ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and she has expressed disappointment that her children have been unable to gravitate towards those classics.

+Polly and the Puffin

When Polly hears a crash in her home, she imagines the worst. It could be a monster. Or it could be a hideous alien. Either way, Polly is a little hesitant. She doesn’t expect to find a little puffin, and she doesn’t expect to grow so attached to it after committing to helping the puffin heal its broken wing.

The cottage by the sea is a great place for a puffin to recover from its injuries, especially with the help of a little girl and her mother. Of course, not all is well. As determined as Polly might be to see her puffin friend healed, she also knows that once he is well, he will return to his home in the wild, never to be seen again. And Polly doesn’t know if she is ready to say goodbye.

The first book in the Polly and the Puffin series introduces Polly and Neil the puffin to readers. To new fans of Jenny Colgan, Neil is just a random but sweet Puffin they will grow to love. To older fans of Jenny, Neil is the puffin that was introduced in Jenny’s previous series and which grew so popular that Jenny decided to write him into her children’s series.

This book describes the burgeoning relationship between a child and a puffin. Polly learns that Neil isn’t some toy to be played with. She learns to treat him as the living creature he is.

+The Stormy Day

Polly’s father is a fisherman. He is out at sea, and Polly and her mother are waiting for his return. However, as dark clouds gather, Polly and her mother begin to worry about her father’s safe return.

Neil makes things worse when he flies away.

The second novel in the Polly and the Puffin series is an anxiety-inducing tale about Polly learning how difficult it can be for children and grownups to wait, especially during uncertain situations.