Penguin Huddle

PreS-Gr 2–After a particularly blustery night in the South Pole, penguin friends awake to find themselves frozen together, and no amount of wiggling can separate this “giant penguin ice pop.” Their Antarctic neighbors are willing but unable to help, and now the penguin huddle is officially a penguin muddle. Pipsqueak, the baby of the bunch, has an idea: they need to take a trip to the big city. There they visit the Doctopus, a cheerful tentacled fellow who shows them that the solution is right at their feet. Montgomery’s text is admirably lean without sacrificing humor, vocabulary, and wordplay, while Warburton brings the frozen tundra and the bustling city to life with bright, energetic art that seems to fly, run, and waddle across the page. From the iceberg-dwelling walruses back home to the tiniest fish in the Doctopus’s tank, every creature in the book has an expressive face that adds warmth and wit to the characterization. The length is just right for a story hour, with a smooth flow of action that keeps the plot moving.