Nights of the Pufflings

Written and Photographed by Bruce McMillan

Nights of the Pufflings takes place in Iceland.

• Iceland is an island country in the North Atlantic Ocean.

• Though hard to believe, only a small part of the island is covered in ice.

Our story is about how a young girl and her island friends help save baby pufflings.

• Puffins are sea birds that have received the nickname “clowns of the sea”.

Why do you think that people have given puffins the nickname “clowns of the sea”?

Vocabulary

Ashore

The small boat floated ashoreonto a small island.

Ashore means to go on orto the shore (from the water).

Have you ever seen anything that has floated ashore?

Burrows

The puffins make their nests in burrows.

Burrows are holes or tunnels small animals use as underground nests.

Name some other animals that live in burrows.

InstinctivelyThe puppies instinctivelyknew to drink milk fromtheir mother.

Instinctively means to do something withoutthinking.

Can you name a time whenyou did something instinctively?

Launching

The rocket islaunching into the

sky.

Launching means to send up in the air.

Uninhabited

The island iscompletely uninhabited.

Uninhabited meansthat there are nopeople living there.

Stranded

The man was stranded

on the island.

Stranded means to be

in a helpless or difficultsituation.

Venture

The kids wanted toventure to the

mountainalone.

To venture means todo something eventhough it might bedangerous.

Match the vocabulary word to its definition

1. Sending up in the air

2. To do something even though it might be dangerous

3. On or to the shore (from the water)

4. In a helpless or difficult position

5. Done without thinking

6. Holes or tunnels small animals use as underground nests

7. Having no people living there

a. Venture

b. Burrows

c. Instinctively

d. Stranded

e. Launching

f. Uninhabited

g. Ashore