Penguins

by Liz Pichon

If you love penguins you will love Penguins!

Penguins do the same thing every day. They swim, eat fish, sleep standing up, look at people, and look at more people. It's an ordinary day at the zoo until a little girl drops something into the penguin pen...

see extended summary

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Humor, Science, Birds

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

L. Pichon says that when she was little, she loved to draw, and her mom said she was very good at making a mess (this is still true today). She kept drawing, went to art school, became a designer and art director at Jive Records, and began to publish children’s books. After its publication in the U.K., The Brilliant World of Tom Gates won several prestigious awards, including the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, and the Blue Peter Book Award. L. Pichon lives in Brighton, England, with her family.

Reviews

[FWS · Rating 2 out of 5]

The penguins of London Zoo have found a camera.
Inquisitive, they poke and bite until they find the flash button.

The book interacts and engages the reader: 1) on a tactile level by including an actual photo-size illustration of the penguins' photo, 2) on a perceptual level as the reader is made to assimilate their perspective via a black page with a small squared opening that simulates the camera lens.

Great to read on its own (KS1). It also reminded me of Penguins from Madagascar [excellent animated show].

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book so much because penguins are one of my favorite animals.

[Stephanie Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penguins is a cute humous picture book about a group of penguins in a zoo that find a camera and take lots of pictures. The simple pictures are arranged on each page in a different way to link with the story and make it engaging for the reader. The text includes a range of punctuation. The reader can make connections to their own experience at the zoo and imagine themselves being behind the cage.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very good because, well, guess what happens? We thought there were just gonna be pictures of penguins on the last page, but [spoiler alert] there was pictures of rhinos and monkeys. (Donkey-monkeys?) But, where you would've put the certificate, there's a little fold piece, and when you fold it down: pictures of penguins!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice story about penguins at the zoo. It would be great to read if there was a school trip to the zoo with KS1 and provides opportunities for creative writing. The book is bright and colourful and has lift the flap and a cut out section to mimic looking through the viewfinder of a camera which makes it engaging and interactive.

[Miss Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the penguins at the zoo everyday is the same. Swim, eat fish, penguin games, sleep standing up, look at people, look at more people. However, one day a camera is found the penguins area. The penguins have a great time clicking the camera. Well, until it stops working. When the young girl gets her camera back she finds some surprising penguin pictures.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short easy book, perfect for a quick read about penguins finding a camera and having some fun with it. My favorite part of this book is how they included the photos the penguins took at the end of the book! I loved that part so much!

[Tayler K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you cute penguins for finally enticing me to read a book for the first time this year. 😅

When someone drops their camera into the penguin habitat at the zoo, the penguins have a lot of fun with it! I really adored the fold-out set of penguin photos in the back cover.

[Mafaz Ali]

This book is cute, but since very few people use cameras anymore, let alone film cameras, it's hard for little kids to understand what the big deal is. Suitable for young children to read at end of day story times. Like to illustrations and the language used.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story about penguins at a zoo finding a camera. I feel that the illustrations give parents some things to talk about. I would have liked to read more about what photos the penguins took.
I was a little bit confused about the camera being broken but then ok.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this one up for a penguin themed storytime and loved it!! Very cute, especially the fold out photographs at the end.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time I read this, the pull-out photos on the last page had been torn out so I didn’t understand it at all. Now it’s cute. :-)

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute

[K Morlando · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book about penguins who take pictures with a camera that was left in the zoo!

[Zoe Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story. Extension would be for children to go around and take pictures of what they love too

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penguins find a camera in their exhibit and take advantage of the opportunity to take pictures of themselves. Will the little girl be excited to have so many penguin pictures?

[Chloe Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story it was really simple but fun. It could be used as a cross curricular link with science or a trip to the zoo. I liked the fold out sections which makes the book interactive.

[Megan Tooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book about penguins! A really engaging book with cut outs, which makes the book more fun

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute, but not much going on.

[Karine Lelièvre · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's cute and great for a story time

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A group of penguins play with a camera accidentally dropped into their enclosure.

[The Bougie Twins · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Franci · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#3 of 2024

A cute story about penguins finding a camera inside their enclosure.

Read to Edward.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is cute, but since very few people use cameras anymore, let alone film cameras, it's hard for little kids to understand what the big deal is. Cute, but there are lots of other great penguin books out there that are easier to read aloud to my story time kids.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this last night, and my six year old wanted to take it on the school bus this morning to re-read. Definitely a success. Also, he giggled during the reading. :)

These adorable rounded penguins (who inexplicably have teeth when asked to say "Fish!" for a picture), have a relatively boring life at the zoo, especially on quiet days when there are no people around for them to watch. However, a girl accidentally drops her camera into the penguin enclosure; when a baby penguin finds it, hijinks ensue. Of course at first they are cautious, but Baby Penguin quickly catches on to the button-pushing and they take many silly photos of themselves, until the camera stops responding. In the morning, the keeper finds it, and eventually it is returned to the girl-- and the Penguin photos are developed.

The flop-out strip of 'photos' in the back is a structural weak point for the book but also a source of great enjoyment, if my son's reaction can be generalized. Despite being entirely a child of the digital age, he was not fazed by reference to the film being developed-- I don't even think he noticed that.

Given the interest in taking funny pictures of themselves and each other displayed by modern children, and the antics of the adorable penguins, this is pretty much a sure-fire hit.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like it anyway regardless some snobby coworker who is not a big part in the Library and I have a good job today I think the best cat in you can do to the best cat is not easy to the best cat and the weekly newsletter for your inputs and I think the world and goats every time I was so the editor and they are just a good job of gumball the best way for your inputs to make sure w's and they should appreciate the world is not as i was so happy that maybe kid who is not easy but I think the Rabbit hole is a hard time with their apps for the best way for your inputs from Wisconsin hayang balik lo and behold and they should appreciate it if you are breaking down undo vote up flag this page bookmark the world is not a good job today I was looking

[Whitney Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! This is a wonderful book to read to ignite a variety of different language arts lessons. this book is about some penguins that stumble across what to them is a foreign object. The object is a camera and they just do not know what to do with it. In the end the owner of the camera has the film developed and to his surprise he has several funny photos. The characters in this story are adorable and are very entertaining to children. Very cool book.

[Emerald Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures are adorable, and the story is humorous. It is a nice short storytime read. Higher level questioning: Why is this a fiction book? Why are the penguins so curious about the camera? Why don't the penguins do much on rainy days? Predicting: what might the penguins take pictures do for their pictures. Liz Pichon

[Michele Knott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come meet the penguins in the zoo and find out what happens when a camera drops down into their area. The penguins have fun with the camera and take some fun pictures. When the camera is returned to the rightful owner, you can imagine the surprise when the owner looks at the pictures! I had to explain to my 6 year old what cameras were like before they were digital - "You mean you couldn't see the pictures right away?" :) There is a fun surprise to find at the end of the story!

[babyhippoface · Rating 2 out of 5]

When a little girl at the zoo drops her camera in the penguin exhibit, the penguins have fun taking photos of themselves. The zookeeper finds her camera and returns it. Imagine the girl's surprise when she finds several images of penguins smiling at each other on her roll of film!

I expected images of the photos the penguins took at the end, but there were none, just one of a monkey and one of an elephant on top of a pile of others. What?! We should've seen those photos!