Category Archives: Puffin Post

Yet more coverage in the Press!

Press, Puffin Club, Puffin Post, Telegraph

… and the new club has the seal of approval from Madonna! It’s official – it’s in the Telegraph!

I like to think that it means that more children will have the opportunity to find pleasure in something that doesn’t have a screen or go ‘beep’!

I was interviewed by James Vaughan, the author of the piece, to give some background as an old member of the club and my views on its future. It was a pleasant experience and I feel optimistic about the future for the new Puffineers. Before anyone thinks I am benefiting from all this press attention – I’ve done it all for free! If it gets a few kids reading, it’ll be worth it.

link to the Telegraph article

The next time you tear open that envelope…

envelope, Jill McDonald, Puffin Club, Puffin Post


…you might want to think again! This is another image from Ruth’s collection. These wonderful one colour pictures were printed on the envelopes that contained the precious copies of Puffin Post when they landed on your doormat. It certainly left you in no doubt as to what had arrived.

As always, these were drawn by Jill McDonald. Having now seen some examples of Jill’s original work, I have begun to get an idea of how she worked. All of the beautiful line drawings that appeared in Puffin Post appear to have been drawn without guide pencil lines and drafted straight onto what looks like layout paper. Those of you with a background in old fashioned graphic art will know what that means! However she worked, I have yet to find a piece of her work that isn’t beautifully proportioned and carefully considered.

Thanks Jill!

Image from the collection of Ruth – Founder member 1487 – Restored S. Hassan Oct 2008

A Flight of Puffins… (an obscure joke I’m afraid)

Jill McDonald, Puffin Club, Puffin Exhibition, Puffin Post


Dear Blog reader, I must apologise for the lack of posting for the last week – it really has been a bit busy. What I can promise you is a Halloween special with some of my favourite Autumn covers. In the mean time, please enjoy a lovely throwaway decoration that festooned the walls and ceilings of the Commonwealth Institute at the Puffin Exhibition.

At the end of the show I saw them being pulled off the walls and stuffed into rubbish bins. This horrified me, even at a tender age, and I asked Kaye Webb if I could take one home. The pink one lived blu-tacked to my wall until it found its way to the safety of my portfolio – as far as I know it’s the only one left.

The Puffin Post Relaunch

BBC Radio, Jeremy Strong, Puffin Post

eptember is on the way out and so is the ultra brief Indian summer.

Here I am back from the newly relaunched and re imagined Puffin Post party. I’m glad to say that it has retained the spirit of the old, whilst made it accessible for today’s kids – and what a lot of kids there were!! I’m sure that there will be coverage in the press about the party, but it included all of the elements that were around in the old Puffin Parties and Exhibitions. I think Kaye would have been very pleased.

I also did my bit talking about the clubs old and new on BBC Three Counties Radio with author Jeremy Strong. For some reason, the listen again facility for the show hasn’t been updated for over a week – The nice people at BBC Three Counties Radio have told me they are looking into it. As far as I can tell, it went very well. I’d be interested to know if any of you heard it.

Puffin Club? Puffin Post? What’s the difference?

Kaye Webb, Puffin Club, Puffin diary, Puffin Post

I have to admit I’m a bit of a pedant when it comes to history – it comes from working in Film restoration and in the media. There’s a lot of revisionist thinking out there (re-writing of history).

So what was the ‘Puffin Club’ (not Puffin Post)? Well here’s a great little explanation by Kaye Webb herself, writing in the Puffin Diary of 1979:

The new club is called ‘Puffin Post’ – not the ‘Puffin Club’. The club is now the schools entity. I suppose this makes it easier to differentiate between the two. I can’t help feeling this may confuse a few of us older members, but I have to remind you – ‘It’s not for us! It’s for our kids!’