CIA Ciao, Pit! (It: Penguin Pete, a

Penguin Pete

by Marcus Pfister

Penguin Pete befriends Horatio, a mouse dwelling on a shipwreck, and finds that he has a lot to learn about life on board a ship.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Friendship

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Marcus Pfister was born in Berne, Switzerland, and began his career as a graphic artist in an advertising agency. In 1983, he decided to dedicate more time to artistic pursuits, and began to write and illustrate his first book, The Sleepy Owl, which was published in 1986. His best-known work to date is The Rainbow Fish, which has remained on bestseller lists across the United States since 1992.

Marcus does most of his illustrations for children's books in watercolors. He begins each book by stretching watercolor paper over a wooden board so that it won't warp when wet. He then copies his rough sketches onto the paper in pencil. At this point, he is ready to begin painting. For backgrounds and blended contours, he uses wet paint on wet paper to get a softer effect. For sharper details, he first lets the paper dry, then paints the final picture layer by layer. When the illustration is complete he cuts the paper from the wooden board.

For books that feature holographic foil stamping, he then tapes a piece of transparent film over the art and indicates with a black marker where the foil stamping should be. The foil stamping is then applied during the production process after the pages are printed and before the final binding.

Marcus and his wife, Kathryn, work together in Berne, where they live with their three children.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had cute illustrations and a simple plot. It's a gentle story about friends and not needing to know how to do everything.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penguin Pete climbs aboard an abandoned boat. He meets Horatio, the ship’s mouse. Horatio shows Pete around — including the store room where the food is. Then they play games. Pete discovers, though, that Horatio can’t swim.

[Alicia Steagall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read for a child! Lovely story!

[Alysa Fenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute story about a Penguin and a mouse :)

[Istvan Zoltan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little adventure story.
Penguin Pete makes a friend while exploring an abandoned ship.
It's fun for little ones (1.5 years plus), easy to follow, and you can do some simple discussion exercises (can you show on the big picture of the ship where the mast is? where did they climb up? etc.) and fun games with it (let's play with a net like Penguin Pete, etc.).

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Penguin Pete found something interesting to explore. A ship! On board e meets a little mouse named Horatio and they become friends. Pete decides he really misses the sea and wants to take Horatio with him. Horatio can't swim so they decide to put him in a life boat and let Pete push him. The lifeboat fills with water and Pete has to save Horatio.

It's a cute little story. For my guy the highlight was the ship.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Pete finds an abandoned ship he gets on and looks around. He finds a mouse that lives there. They become friends and encounter different adventures until mouse almost drowns because he doesn't know how to swim. Pete says next time he'll teach him to swim. The illustrations in this book were nice, probably nicer than the story itself.

[Tati · Rating 5 out of 5]

We actually got this book translated in Spanish. It is adorable and teaches some good words for parts of a ship

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pete enjoys the ship that Horatio has. When they go in the water, Horatio's lifeboat is sinking, but Pete helps him back to the ship since he can't swim.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Penguin pete is one cute guy, although i am not sure there is any larger lesson in his series....