Without You Book and CD

by Sarah Weeks, Suzanne Duranceau

Where would I be,what would I do,without you?So sings a newborn penguin in this tender tribute to dads the world over. While a mother penguin leaves her mate and newly laid egg to go and feed in the deep blue sea, the father penguin protects the egg by holding it on his feet until it hatches. Father and chick huddle together, braving the Antarctic winter as they wait for the mother's return.Containing a free CD with a song written and sung by Sarah Weeks, Without You is a soothing narrative ballad that illuminates one of nature's rare and heartwarming role reversals and celebrates the special bond between father and child.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Family, Fiction, Storytime, School

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Sarah Weeks has been writing children’s books and songs for the past twenty years. She is a graduate of Hampshire College and NYU and recently became an adjunct faculty member in the prestigious Writing Program at the New School University, in New York City.

Her first YA novel, So B. It, which appeared on the LA Times bestseller list was chosen as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and received the 2004 Parent’s Choice Gold Award. In addition to being an author, Sarah is an accomplished singer/songwriter. She has written for television, stage and screen and a number of her picturebooks include songs which she both writes and sings for the accompanying CD’s. Sarah's titles have sold well over a million copies, including several foreign editions.

Sarah is a tireless promoter, visiting schools throughout the country, serving as author-in-residence and speaking to teachers and librarians at national conferences including IRA, ALA and NCTE. She lives in New York City with her two teenage sons.

Reviews

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful book that studies the world of the penguin from the viewpoint of a chick while it comes from the egg and into a treacherously cold world as a chick. Although it has never met its mother the small chick works upon encouraging its father to care for it by mentioning all the important things that he does as well as the occasional praise for the mother.

The writing was pretty decent and easy to follow along. There was a bit of a natural rhythm although the book I was reading from had words marked out by pencil and replaced by other words so I have no idea who had previously owned it nor why they would think to do it.

The best part about the book was the illustrations which were done so brightly and beautiful that it caught the cold environment, the dangers, the life of a father penguin and the beauty of the cycle of the penguin's mating life. The details were wonderful and didn't take away from the reader's joy.

All in all it was a great book and a fast read. Some of the way that it presents itself may want an adult reader to check the material since it does go for a bit of a codependency look even though we are talking about a young chick who does need to depend on its parents. Otherwise this book will be a great read, especially to those who enjoy penguins.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nonfiction book introduces young readers to emperor penguins and the shows them the way both fathers and mothers care for the baby snuggled inside the egg.

Detailed illustrations, with colors evoking the harsh Antarctic winter, and the factual, rhyming text, give young readers the opportunity to learn about the penguins and to see that penguin families are much the same as their own.

Recommended.

[Kristin Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many reasons that this is a good book! The illustrations are bright and help tell the story. The author's note at the beginning (and really the whole book) share facts about emperor penguins and their habits. And finally, the repeated refrain of "Where would I be, what would I do without you?" are precious words for parents to read to their children.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nicely illustrated story about an emperor penguin chick and the way its parents care for it. The refrain "Where would I be, what would I do, who in the world would see me through…where would I be, what would I do…without you?" repeats three times. A nice way to present the care that penguins have for their eggs and babies.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heart warming description of the beginning of a young penguin's life on its father's feet.

[Allison Ster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I also love penguins and this follows a male penguin and his egg while the mother goes away. It is a very cute story!

[Danielle Mccoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story. Sweet. Long intro which takes it down a star. Kids started to lose interest.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolutely gorgeous book! I love how this books helps us learn more parenting roles that the emperor penguins share.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful penguin art.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book

[Lisa Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm emotional so yes, this one got me in my feels. Super sweet book!

[Nancy Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Date I completed reading the book: 11-11-20

My star rating (1 to 5): ****

The date: 11-23-20

Genre: Fiction, Science, Poetry

Grade range: PreK-2

Book review: This would be a great book to use while studying penguins. It is about what is the role of the father penguin while the mom is away.

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say, embarrasingly, that I teared up at this story, and its not a sad book. Since the birth of my son almost 4 years ago, I cry over anything sentimental. Every time I read the words "what would I do without you?" I felt the tears fighting for escape. Its not the full on boohooing that I do with EVERY reading of Shel Silverstiens "The Giving Tree" (come on, thats a tear jerker), but the tears threatened.
The illustations are awesome, and the story line flows for children. It will probably be another favorite for my son.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't think the writing for this book was exceptional but it was cute in telling the story of a baby penguin when he is born until he meets his mom. The thing I enjoyed most about this book were the pictures. They were AMAZING! Especially in the pictures with the storm, you could almost feel the bitterness and the snow hitting your face. Overall, I really liked the book for the illustrations, not necessarily the writing or storyline.

[Brooke Teichert · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all I love Penguins so instantly this is my favorite. It had a cute little story about the mother and the egg and baby penguin being without each other but really it was quite educational. There was a lot of information about penguins and what happens when they have a baby and how the mother goes first to find food and then the dad takes care of the egg. It was a charming book and it had a lot of education in it.

[Sheng Yang · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a warm and fuzzy book to read. It really shows the love between parents to children and children to parents. It introduces readers to how a penguin is hatch from its egg, the father keeps the children warm, while the mother goes out to the ocean to search for food. I would recommend this book to children, because it really teaches the value of love within a family and it really touches you.

[Becky B · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little penguin's ode to the care of its parents that sustains it through the cold first months of its life.

The little poetic ode of a penguin for the care of it's parents is sweet, but what really sets this book apart are the incredible illustrations. They are all stunning and gorgeous! I also appreciated the author's note at the front of the book with great information about the habits of male and female emperor penguins in the care for an egg and little penguin.

[Destiny Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Without You," is a excellent book for young readers who want to learn some fun, and interesting facts about penguins. The book explains the journey that mother and father penguins have to go through in order to keep their babies alive. The baby penguin in the story ponders his mothers journey. He braves the cold blizzards with his father, and the whole time he is thinking, "where would I be without you?'

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

12/09: A baby Emperor Penguin pays homage to his devoted dad.

Amazon Book Description:
Where would I be, What would I do, Without you?

While a mother penguin leaves her mate and newly laid egg to feed in the deep blue sea, the father penguin protects the egg by holding it on his feet until it hatches. In one of nature's rare and heartwarming role reversals, father and chick stay together, braving the Antarctic winter as they wait for the mother's return.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Facts about emperor penguins at the beginning)

A baby emperor penguin is protected by its daddy during the fierce winter and looks forwards to its mom reuniting with them.

This sweet poem is told from the baby penguin's perspective showing its trust in it parents while educating readers on facts about emperor penguins.

[A.C. Bauch · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the overall story and illustrations are this book's strengths. The words themselves sometimes read more like song lyrics. (I wasn't surprised to see that the authors is also a song writer.) I appreciate a book about fathers and children, which seem to be the minority in the children's book market.

[Alexis Burmeister · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this was a really sweet and fun book! I feel like after the movie Happy Feet, children would really love to read a book like this. Penguins are always really fun creatures to read and learn about. I love them as a child. I would definitely read this to my children and even students. I think there are many fun extension activities with this book!

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and a sweet story about parents working as a team to raise their little one. I love a story about offspring showing appreciation to mom & dad - it happens so very seldom in real life.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a sweet little book that describes the life of Penguins. It is read more like a story but gives facts like a textbook does. I think this book would be a great book to use in the classroom, especially while talking about the home and the parenting styles of different species.

[Julianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it book because it is cute and informative and also very heartfelt. It makes me think about the people that I couldn't do without in my own life, and it makes me want to tell them how much they mean to me.

[Emilee Wirth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting, it put a different twist on what penguins actually go through and what mamas do for the babies. I found it very cute and educational for young kids, the pictures did a good job at illustrating what the words were saying.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is told from the viewpoint of the newly hatched penguin. It tells about all the things daddy penguins do for their young while the mother is away filling her belly. This would be great for military children whose mothers may be deployed.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 4 year old gives this book 5 stars and says, "I love this book so much I wanted to hug it." And then he hugged it.

[Debra Lovett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really sweet but sad story.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book celebrates the relationships between a father and his child. This book is great to use when studying penguins.