Penguin the Magpie

The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family

By: Cameron Bloom, Bradley Trevor Greive

Narrated by: Richard Roxburgh, Edwina Wren

Length: 1 hr and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Penguin the Magpie is an extraordinary true story of recovery, hope, and courage as one injured bird and her human family learn to heal and celebrate life, told in a captivating narrative by New York Times best-selling author of The Blue Day Book, Bradley Trevor Greive.

People around the world have fallen in love with Penguin the Magpie, a global social media sensation, and her adventures with her human family. But there is far more to Penguin's story than meets the eye. It all begins when Sam, Cameron Bloom's wife, suffers a near fatal fall that leaves her paralyzed and deeply depressed. One of their three sons, reeling from the tragic accident, discovers an injured magpie chick abandoned after she had fallen from her nest. The boys name the bird Penguin, for her black-and-white plumage. As they nurse Penguin back to health, the incredible joy, playfulness, and strength she exudes fortify the family and especially lift Sam's spirits. Penguin's resilience demonstrates that however bleak things may seem, compassion, friendship, and support can come from unexpected places, ensuring there will always be better days ahead. This plucky little magpie reminds us all that no matter how lost, fragile, or damaged we feel, accepting the love of others and loving them in return will help to make us whole.

©2017 Cameron Bloom (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

Left me shocked

I didn’t think this book would be good. It was so simple that it was perfectly fulfilling. We all know the story of human and animal connection but this also educated us on the disabled experience and the true impact of these injuries. Definitely recommend.

Do not miss this book!

Beautiful and inspiring. Especially anyone who works with patients and spinal cord injuries, a must listen!

Excellent! Excellent in so many ways!

Hope is what this book gives us all! Loved the story, the love in this family (including Penguin the Magpie - she is mentioned as part of this family multiple times in the book), the courage, the perseverance, the struggle through adversity to still find a joyful life. Penguin, of course. I'm a huge animal lover, and do animal rescue, and so loved the rescue theme of Penguin rescuing the family, and the family rescuing her. It's not a real long audiobook. You can easily become engrossed in the story and listen to the entire book in an evening.

Loved Sam Bloom's hopeful epilogue at the end of the story - advice for others who may be reading and have suffered, or know someone who has suffered, a spinal cord injury. How to deal with the situation, heal emotionally and physically, and still find a good life. Richard Roxburgh was an excellent narrator. This book was written very well, and I have read multiple books on spinal cord injuries, but this one is the best I've read as far as explaining all the ups and downs (physically and emotionally, and the struggles for the caregivers and family too) a person goes through - the grief and loss of the person they were, the anger, the sadness, and of course the love, joy, and hope. What we all need more of. Sam Bloom's husband, Cameron (Cam), does the best job I've ever read in a spinal cord injury book of telling about what he, his wife and their family went through in recovering from this serious injury.

And, I loved Edwina Wren's voice in the final chapter, speaking Sam Bloom's words. I have a lot of Audiobooks, and I have never loved a narrator's voice so much that I purposely went to Audible to see what other books she has narrated. This may be the first Audible book (out of over 1,000 I have) that I've written a review on.

All-in-all, an excellent book. And, they're making a movie out of it. Can't wait to see it when it's out.

Thank you all for all the love, courage and hard work you put into this book. It's given me so much hope. ;)

amazing

I loved the story and how it was narrated. I only wish it was longer but wanting more is what tells how much you enjoy it

Made me cry uplifted my soul

Had a rough day it's hard to live in a planet where evil people can get away with so much wrong and I found this book because Netflix is advertising the film. The book completely uplifted me I also ordered a copy of it so I can hold it and go through the photos. I watch videos on YouTube of the family and I also love Richard the quirky Australian actor who reads this I am really enjoyed his TV shows. Great audible book. I cant wait to receive the actual book to page through and see Penguin w/ beautiful family.

#GodSentYouAnAngel

Amazing. inspirational. The story of Sam and Penguin demonstrates how God can send Angels in a different form.

A great story minimized by a title about a bird

I really expected that this would be a story about a bird but it is a story about a horrific accident and the devastating consequences on a family. The bird comes in only in the second half of the story--and in my opinion, minimized the greater story that was being told. Yes, the injured bird came at a good time and was part of the healing process. But that is not the BIG story here. The real story is about overcoming a tragedy, about resilience, about struggling to regain a life, about a family being broken and the process of healing. The title of the book should have hinted toward that much greater story.

disappointed

was expecting something different. watched the movie first and the story lines were very different.

Disappointing, very abridged version of events

I watched the movie of this story with fascination and awe, of the determination and love this family had. What an amazing, heartbreaking, funny, harrowing, and triumphant story. Like many movies based on true stories, I was hungry for a more detailed account of this family's journey. This book isn't that... in fact, its the opposite. It's basically a bit of introduction, a chapter including a brief account of their life before the accident, and a condensed account of their post-accident life with barely a blurb about the bird, Penguin. Then there is a lengthy, heartfelt dedication to his wife and children, with a bit more information than the movie included, about her involvement and success with canoeing. Initially, I thought I'd mistakenly purchased an abridged version of the book, but when I looked, it's says "unabridged". Bummer.