Review by Booklist Review
Ages 1^-4. This bright, bouncy concept book has a young penguin and his teddy bear as tour guides through a variety of familiar changes. Penguin starts with something very familiar to toddlers--a cardboard box that can be a cave one moment, a ship the next. Next, Penguin flies a kite on a cloudy day that changes to a sunny one. He's pictured ice-skating and then licking a popsicle. The examples become increasingly complex ("I change my mind"), but the ideas remain accessible to very young children. The art, in brilliant primary colors with arrestingly simple figures, provides further clarification. The thought-provoking book ends with gentle reassurance: the picture shows the penguin and its baby sibling in a loving embrace with their mother as the text reads, "Some things never change." --Connie Fletcher
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
What's black and white and likely to be read all over? This cheery paper-over-board addition to Murphy's (Please Be Quiet!; My Puffer Train) canon of penguin books for toddlers. Here, a young penguin observes how the things in its life and surroundings are apt to change a cardboard box becomes a ship, water turns to ice, walls in the home are painted different colors. Moods and minds change, too, a fact that seems to make each day a new adventure. But while many things are in flux, the book's final spread offers a reassuring exception: the constant love of a parent. "Some things stay the same," reads the text, as the art depicts a parent-and-child hug. Everything about the book's design is appealingly bold, from the solid-colored backgrounds and thick, hand-lettered style of the text to the penguin's bright fried-egg, yellow-on-white belly. Young children will appreciate the verisimilitude and comforting notes that Murphy hits just right. Ages 1-4. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-The penguins from Please Be Quiet! (Houghton, 1999) are back in this engaging book. Through mostly concrete examples, the concept of change is explored on many levels. A cardboard box in the flippers of a youngster can change from being a cave to a ship; a cloudy day can turn into a sunny one; a child changes by growing taller; a home can change with a coat of paint; and individuals can even change their minds. These examples, featuring playful and loving situations, make an often-scary concept seem like a comfortable, everyday experience. The bold and vivid colors and familiar situations will appeal to preschoolers who will enjoy the simplicity of the illustrations. A good choice for sharing with a group or one-on-one.-Genevieve Ceraldi, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Preschool) Mary Murphy's penguin child (Please Be Quiet! [rev. 9/99]) explores different sorts of changes in this cheery concept book. Creative play allows a cardboard box to change from cave to ship; fluffy white clouds give way to bright blue sky as weather changes for the better; water becomes ice for skating and vice versa, as an orange popsicle melts in a smiling penguin beak. Physical changes are noted as proud parent measures growing child (""I change"") and as together they cover a yellow wall with bright pink paint (""home changes""). Less tangible concepts are illustrated with familiar examples: for ""I change my mind,"" the child chooses a different storybook; younger sibling quickly goes from cries to laughter for ""moods change."" Bright, saturated colors on heavy paper provide appealing backgrounds for the warmly depicted family at play, as they move happily through the small changes of everyday life. No life-altering changes here: the penguin parent, always close by, envelops her (or his) children for a cozy hug on the final page, a comforting reminder that ""some things stay the same."" (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Murphy's trio of convivial penguins (Please Be Quiet!, 1999, etc.) returns, this time to demystify the nature of change for young readers. With simple prose and bright artwork, this soothing tale is ideal for introducing toddlers, notorious sticklers for routine, to the notion of change. Using a series of rudimentary contrasts that illuminate at once the inevitability and innocuous nature of most changes, Murphy describes changing moods, weather, prerogatives, and more. The sagacious observations range from pithy declarations, "I change," to more pragmatic examples, "Day changes to night." Each statement is accompanied by a full-bleed, two-page spread featuring a penguin parent and two penguin offspring engaging in a fun, familiar activity that exemplifies the various states of change described. That the two young penguins remain notably unruffled by the shifting events is inspiring for young readers. Pictures of chunky penguins gleefully cavorting about, combined with boldly colored backgrounds in vibrant hues of lemon yellow, cerulean blue, and crimson, deftly captures readers' attentions. The chipper tale concludes on an upbeat note, with an affirmation of the one immutable constant for a young child: the love of a parent. Straightforward and accessible for the youngest reader, Murphy's tale offers children a comforting exploration of a challenging and oftentimes unsettling concept. (Picture book. 1-4)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
