Penguins are cute little animals that you just want to cuddle and play with. Who doesn’t remember Pingu the Penguin? This tiny and adorable penguin with its cute sounds made penguins even cuter. The fact that they are birds that can’t fly but can swim and can walk on two legs just like human beings makes them even more interesting.
The Movie Mr. Poppers Penguins was just released last month (hasn’t yet been released in the UK though), the story for which has been adapted from the book with the same name, which made me want to make this list of children’s Penguin books. Below you will find a list of Penguin books both children and adults will enjoy reading:-
1. Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
Reading age 7 and up
139 pages
Mr. Popper’s a house painter who wants more out of life. He’s has actually been quite satisfied with life, but is just a little disappointed that he had never travelled across the Arctic. This is something he always dreamed about doing and he continues to do so. One day he hears that a great explorer read one of his letters and is sending him a gift.
This gift turns out to be a penguin. He takes good care of this penguin and his entire family gets really close to it. Later they adopt a female penguin to give this male penguin some company which leads to the two penguins getting along really well and having more baby penguins of their own.
The book is really fun and easy to read. Kids will definitely enjoy reading it and can finish reading it quite quickly. They will especially enjoy reading about the penguins and the all the hilarious activities they perform. The pictures in the book make it even livelier. A must read for every child and adult. You can also read it aloud for younger children.
Buy From Amazon US
2. Penguin Pete by Marcus Pfister
Reading age 3 and up
32 pages
Pete is the youngest penguin in a penguin flock. The story follows his life growing up. At the beginning he tries to learn how to walk properly and it then shows us the other cute activities he tries to perform. There’s also the part where a bird tries to teach him how to fly.
This book is a very easy to read for really young kids. Older kids will also enjoy reading it. It’s got a cute and funny story written well with easy to understand language, which is well mixed with cute watercolour images of penguins which are fun to look at.
Buy From Amazon US
3. Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger
Ages 4 and up
32 pages
Tacky’s a unique penguin. He behaves differently from the other penguins in the flock and he himself doesn’t realize his odd behaviour. He is so different that he even dresses up differently from the way penguins normally dress up. This odd and noisy behaviour from Tacky puts off his companions, but later this behaviour saves their lives too.
Tacky the Penguin is the first book of “Tacky the penguin series”. The book follows the life of a penguin called Tacky. The book’s fun and hilarious to read with really good illustrations. Children and adults will really enjoy reading this one.
Buy From Amazon US
4. A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis
Ages 4 and up
40 pages
Edna’s a penguin who’s used to living in the Antarctic. She’s used to the snow, the ocean and the day to day survival in this place. But something inside tells her that there’s something more to this than the regular way of life, so she goes on a mission. On this mission she comes across humans.
She even takes her friends toward the humans who are quite friendly and gift her a glove. But eventually the humans leave, leaving Edna curious to find out more about the world.
This penguin book is a great to read. The author did both the illustration and the writing in the book and you can see it come together really well when you read the book. You will really enjoy everything about this book from the start to the finish and you will keep coming back to it for more.
Buy From Amazon US
5. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Ages 4 and up
32 pages
Silo and Roy, two male penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo grow extremely close to each other just like the other penguin couples. But one thing they couldn’t do like the other penguins, was lay an egg. One day the Zoo keepers watch them trying to hatch a rock that looks like an egg.
This makes them want to help their birds out. So they bring them an egg from a female penguin which wasn’t able to hatch both its eggs before. Roy and Silo together care for the egg and hatch a penguin, named Tango.
Based on a true story, this book’s good to read with good writing and simple yet entertaining illustrations. Kids will really enjoy reading it.
There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding this book, as it features two male penguins living and raising a child together. Many parents don’t want their kids to find out about this, but I think it’s better for kids to find out about this through a book that shows it gently than finding out about it over the internet (which may show it blatantly), which more and more children are using nowadays without adult supervision.
On the internet they could see something they are not supposed to, but in the book which is age appropriate and fun to read, kids probably won’t realize that there’s something different about it, as it’s very subtly expressed. The book also teaches children tolerance and accepting others who are different.
Buy From Amazon US
Have you read any of the books above? What are some of your favourite penguin books? Please feel free to share your views.