Tacky And The Winter Games

Tacky #6

by Helen Lester, Lynn Munsinger (Illustrator)

"A-huff-and-a-puff-and-a-huff-and-a-puff-and-a-huff-and-a-puff" "WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Tacky the penguin wants to know. The Winter Games, that's what's happening. And Tacky and his fellow penguins Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect have to work hard to get in shape so they can represent Team Nice Icy Land in the athletic competitions. After rigorous training, they're ready - but are the games ready for Tacky? Will his antics keep Team Nice Icy Land from winning a medal? From bobsledless racing and ski jumping to speed skating, Tacky lends his unique, exuberant style to each competition. In laugh-out-loud scenes of Tacky and his fellow penguins' athletic debacles, Tacky reminds readers of the underlying joy and enthusiasm that propells athletes to greatness. So get ready to cheer for Team Nice Icy Land and let the games begin!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Sports, Fiction, Humor, Animals, School

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Helen Lester is the author of many children’s books. Her background with children includes being a mother of two and a former elementary school teacher of ten years. While at home with her children, Helen realized the importance of quality children’s literature. Helen started her writing career as a struggling author facing many rejections by publishing companies. Her first book was finally published in 1979. Helen Lester is a full-time writer who makes her home in New York.

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. I have read tacky the penguin before but this one is superb. I laughed out loud! I love that the penguin Olympics have Scottish penguins & Dutch penguins among others. The text and illustrations are hilarious. I would have given it more stars if possible.

[Tamra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! I didn't know who Tacky was until my 7-year-old son introduced me to this book. My son thinks Tacky is hilarious, and I can see why.

Cute illustrations -- they really sell the book. And fun story line.

Tacky's team should have won the bobsledless event, though. Honestly. The Olympic judge had probably been bought by France.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

12/07: We love Tacky. He truly is an odd bird but a nice bird to have around.

Amazon Book Description:
"A-huff-and-a-puff-and-a-huff-and-a-puff-and-a-huff-and-a-puff" "WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Tacky the penguin wants to know. The Winter Games, that's what's happening. And Tacky and his fellow penguins Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect have to work hard to get in shape so they can represent Team Nice Icy Land in the athletic competitions. After rigorous training, they're ready - but are the games ready for Tacky? Will his antics keep Team Nice Icy Land from winning a medal? From bobsledless racing and ski jumping to speed skating, Tacky lends his unique, exuberant style to each competition. In laugh-out-loud scenes of Tacky and his fellow penguins' athletic debacles, Tacky reminds readers of the underlying joy and enthusiasm that propells athletes to greatness. So get ready to cheer for Team Nice Icy Land and let the games begin!

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Tacky book. I enjoy reading to see what odd things Tacky will do. This one was great. As for length, I think this is better for Preschool storytime than the cheerleading one. And maybe (maybe) some of the older kids in the group will remember that we just had the Winter Olympics. And I think Tacky's antics in this one will be funnier to read aloud. We'll see if the kids like returning to a character from last week.

6/29/10 & 7/1/10 Now, I know this isn't as great as the first, but I had hoped the children would be more into it. They were not. They smiled occasionally over Tacky, but they weren't as excited. Of course, it may be that the winter games part was a bit unfamiliar to them. The older kids that came along did get it. But the book felt...tired. Just not as funny as I had hoped. (Best part was the eating the baton for the Thu. group.)

[Ina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tacky the penguin has always marched to a different drummer. In this book he encounters all of his friends training for the winter games. Not to be left out, Tacky joins the team, even though he was not "the fittest of birds." The reader sees that while Tacky is well meaning, he trains a little differently, and he even participates a little differently in the winter games. There is a happy ending for our hero. Easy to read aloud text and wonderful, fun filled illustrations made this a winner with my story time audience.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tacky and the rest of the penguins from the Nice Icy Land are in training for the Winter Games. They are really hoping to bring home a medal, but Tacky seems to always get things wrong. Is there any hope for the Nice Icy Land?

Tacky isn't afraid to do things differently from the rest, which in sports competitions can have its drawbacks. Of course Tacky comes through with his unconventional ways in the end. I continue to love how Tacky shows kids it is ok to be different, and even the ones you think are oddballs have their good qualities.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tacky is back and this time he’s competing in the Winter Games with his fellow penguins, where he makes a mess of things for his teammates but comes through in the final event, the speed skating relay. Fans of the peculiar penguin will be eager to read this, his 6th picture book. Munsinger once again captures the penguin’s playful personality, and the pictures shine as Tacky’s yellow Hawaiian-print shirt glows against a white and icy-blue background.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, that silly Tacky... The books in the Tacky series have such a funny premise, and truthfully you can't go wrong with cartoon penguins. This story was very cute, but not my favorite. Tacky once again refuses to follow the crowd when it comes to training for the Winter Games. Still, the team comes together at the end for a happy ending. Our girls really enjoy these books and we will look for more in this series at our local library.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tacky and the rest of the penguins are at it again in Tack and the Winter Games. In this hilarious story Tacky and his friends train for the winter games but Tacky is not the best athlete. He has his own way of doing things. This book will make children laugh at all the ridiculous things Tacky does.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tacky is so goofy and adorable! He is the kind of awkward-but-lovable, blundering-idiot-who-somehow-saves-the-day that kids are used to seeing in Disney cartoons and they adored this book in storytime.

A bit long for the preschool kids, but perfect for the older ones.

[Heather Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used this book in 1st grade to help with practicing beg, mid, end. After, i had students write their own fictional story about a penguin. Students had prior knowledge about Tacky from other Tacky books and were able to better focus on comprehending the story.

[Tish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Tacky, he never gets anything right, but usually his unusual nature ultimately saves the day

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly full of humor. Tacky is at it again and refusing to conform to everyone else's expectations.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex really enjoys all the Tacky Books!

[Nancy Jo Lambert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tacky is an odd duck, er, penguin. However, he shows us that through our individuality, we can be important to each other. Tacky is a classic character who has so much to offer to children.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book so much

[Karen Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first Tacky the Penguin (which is one of my favorite picture books of all time), but VERY good.

[Mrs. Gabrielle Zastrow's · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this to help prepare us for the upcoming Winter Olympics 2014 and because we are studying penguins, too!

[Julia]

Olympic theme
-tacky and the other penguins head to the olympic games. Tacky the penguin is up to his regular tricks but in the end helps his team to victory.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tacky is a FUNNY Penguin.
We have enjoyed the Tacky books. Tacky is always doing silly things, and the kidss laugh and laugh.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of Tacky the penguin and Winter Games, this is a hilariously funny book.

It is a little on the longer side, text wise. Recommend for older preschoolers & elementary students.

[Katrina Clohessy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Pretty funny companion book for the original.

[McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute and fun! Loved it!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just love Tacky! This continuation of the series was written after I retired.

I totally enjoyed reading it to my grandson's kindergarten class. We all laughed!

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

flows well
cute story
ties in with the series
some rich vocabulary B+

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goofy book that would be good for preschool or kindergarten ST as a tie-in to the Winter Olympics.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author's sense of humor. This is the silliest and most unexpected book about winter sports that I have ever read.

Will oddball Tacky be able to help his team ... at all?

[Stephanie Carter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure I like this one. Five penguins work hard to prepare for the winter games, and then there’s Tacky who is lazy and does nothing meaningful to prepare. He gets his team disqualified in all the events until the last one where he makes a blunder but ends up winning the race and getting a medal for his team. I guess if you take it in the way that we need to treat everyone kindly even if they seem weird or untalented there could maybe be a positive message?? Kind of a stretch though in my opinion.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't as funny as other Tacky books. I really enjoyed this book though as did my kids. I love the way the author writes the text in this story. The story-line is imaginative and there is not many stories like it. The illustrations in this book are colorful and really tell the story of Tacky. Some of my kids missed some of the funny parts because the words don't show all what Tacky is doing. My kids really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to share more Tacky books with them. Have you ever read a Tacky book? Tell us in the comments.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Tacky! Always and forever!!
Here we get to cheer for Tacky and pals as they head to the winter games. As always, the illustrations are just priceless. Tacky's so adorably disheveled, as usual, and I love all the international penguins! These are great books for older storytimes, just for the humor involved. I'd pull this one out for penguins (of course), competition/games/sports, winter, winter sports, the Olympics...