Penguins

Seedlings

by Kate Riggs

A prekindergarten-level introduction to penguins, covering their growth process, behaviors, the coasts they call home, and such defining physical features as their flippers.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Science, Birds, Animals

24 pages, Library Binding

First published July 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

#67 in my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.

Targeted to the earliest readers, so a basic level of info. Good pictures.

Library copy

[Paige]

Easy to read book about basic penguin body parts, what they eat, and where they live.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather short non-fiction book about penguins with a large font and well-chosen pictures.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always entertaining, at least for me, to read books that are clearly geared to people who are almost four decades younger than I am, and this book is clearly an example of that. This book, and presumably the whole series it is attached to, is designed to be a picture book with very limited text that is designed to be read aloud to little children as a way of informing them about penguins. Books like this help little kids develop a lifelong appreciations for penguins, which are an easy bird to love and full of such quirky ways that they are easy to relate to for awkward but dapper people of all ages. This is precisely the book that I could see myself showing to an appreciative infant or toddler and I'm reasonably positive that this is the purpose for the book in the first place, so it is a case where the design of the book and its very simple text is designed to encourage appreciation of penguins and the conveyance of a little bit of knowledge about them in a way that is very basic and fundamental, and not nearly as complex as the life of penguins in general.

The contents of this book are, as I mentioned earlier, pretty basic. Indeed, all of the words of this book could be printed without it taking too long. The photos, though, or gorgeous, so when you read "Hello, penguins," you see a gorgeous penguin in rich blue water in full swim and another penguin fuzzy. Sometimes the basic information included can be a bit incomplete, as when a page says that most penguins live in or near Antarctica, which is true enough until you realize that their range includes forests in New Zealand as well as the cost of South America up to the Galapagos islands. I myself have personally seen penguins in central Chile, which was an enjoyable sight. The book includes basic information about the feathers of the penguins and their notable qualities like flippers (instead of wings) and webbed feet as well as introducing the fact that they live in rookeries, although that is not necessarily so for all penguins. Still, if this book gives very little information compared with how much it could give, at the very least it is an enjoyable book to read to young audiences that may encourage more serious books later on that provide nuance.

[Christine Turner]

A prekindergarten-level introduction to penguins, covering their growth process, behaviors, the coasts they call home, and such defining physical features as their flippers.


Series Title: Seedlings

I love to use this series for storytime!

[Lindsay]

This is a short little informational book about penguins. Each page presents the reader with big, bright photographs and facts about penguins. I learned from this book that a group of penguins is called a "rookery."

I would use this book with a kindergarten class to introduce the genre of non-fiction informational books. The photos are captivating and the vocabulary words are new and exciting yet easy to manage for young learners. The book contains both a table of contents and index in colorful print that are easy for young readers to understand, making for straight-forward instruction in these features of an informational book.

I would use this book as a quick, fun read aloud with very young students. Following the read aloud, a variety of penguin activities could be planned. Students could draw a picture of something they learned and a teacher could come around to help them write the caption to their pictures. In the gym, we could play a game of tag where some students are fish and the penguins try to catch them.

I would probably incorporate this book as a read aloud for kindergarteners, but it would serve well on the shelf in a first and second grade classroom too for independent readers.

[Ama · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short non-fiction picture book is great for preschoolers and early elementary students(kindergarten, first grade). With simple, easy to understand text and correlating photography, young readers will learn the basics about penguins.

[Rakisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect non-fiction book for early readers and for read a-louds.