Playful little penguins

PreS-Gr 1-Several young penguins are enjoying a busy day walking, sledding, and swimming when they discover a distraught baby seal on an ice floe. The tyke explains, "My mama saw some fish swim by and dove into the sea./The ice floe we were resting on went drifting off with me!" By acting silly, jumping, and dancing, the penguins manage to cheer up the pup. There is a moment of tension when a scary underwater monster speeds toward them, but it turns out to be the mother seal, who thanks the helpful birds. The friends head home to end their long day in a cozy cuddle with their parents. The rhyming narrative gives the story a singsong quality. The text placement reflects the protagonists' activities as the lines wave and swirl through the illustrations. Parker-Rees's artwork is filled with fun-loving penguins, and the brightly colored cartoons add immensely to the story. Children will enjoy watching the animals' antics (the penguin wearing water wings is especially amusing). Fun, but additional.-Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

"Playful little penguins coming out today / looking for their furry friends . . . Here they are--hooray!" The penguins in scarves and hats slide down hills of snow, hop in the sea to hunt for fish and play hard until they find an orphaned seal pup. To cheer her up, the penguins jump and wiggle, have snowball fights and build snow penguins. Suddenly something dark swims toward them . . . of course, it's the seal's mama. The tired penguins go home. "Sleepy little penguins / in a happy huddle-- / that's how penguins like to rest, / in a cozy cuddle!" Mitton and Parker-Rees team up again for this big and bright celebration of penguin fun. The text swirls and swoops, following the nicely individualized characters as they slide and swim across the pages. This unnecessarily re-titled American edition of the British Perky Little Penguins will have story-timers tapping their toes and begging for repeat reads. (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.