Fiona Watt is an Editorial Director and writer at Usborne Publishing. She started working at Usborne in 1989 and has written and edited hundreds of books including baby and novelty, sticker, art and craft, cookery, science and activity books. Fiona graduated from Exeter University with a B.Ed. (Hons.), specialising in Psychology and Art and Design. After university she worked as a researcher and writer for a company which published educational material for places where children went on school visits (zoos, museums, stately homes etc). She then taught seven, eight, and nine year olds for five years; three years at a state school in Sevenoaks in Kent, and two years at The British School in the Netherlands in The Hague.
Having joined Usborne in 1989, Fiona became an editorial director in 2003, largely responsible for writing baby and novelty books, as well as art and activity titles. She has written over 100 titles for Usborne Publishing, perhaps most notably the, ‘That’s not my ….‘ touchy-feely series.
Interesting plot with tactile surprises at every turn of the page. Some things are left unanswered though. Why are we looking for the penguin? Did they get lost? If the search were better motivated I’d bump it up to 5 stars, but still a solid read.
This is possibly my favourite one so far. In previous books I have found the textures to be very similar however this one explores lots of different ones such as rubbery, shiny, fluffy and I love the addition of the baby penguin at the end.
Bought as a present for our little one by one of my lovely pupils as they know I love penguins. Perfect for babies, as with the other books in this series!
The books in the "That's not my..." series can be an interesting read for young babies. A common downside of the series is that the content is overly similar and repetitive, e.g., limited vocabulary and texture, and no background story or specific facts about the characters. The book is still a cute seasonal read with the background covered in ice and snowflakes, and the little mouse dressed in Christmas-themed clothing.
Super cute story to brainwash your child into having the same favorite aquatic animal as you! Laura loved the textured penguins throughout the book and we've already read it multiple times.
This is another charming addition to this series, which both my daughter and I enjoy. My daughter enjoyed the now familiar textures. I liked seeing the mouse wear warm clothing for the antarctic climate.
Nice sensory pads for children and creative-looking penguins. The story didn't make sense to me for a long time until my wife finally pointed out the small mouse on every page. Now I get it.
This book is helping Remi learn to read her smaller words and allows her to touch and describe the touch parts of the book, all while being a silly goose.
So simple, but so cute. I do love this series of books - wish I'd come up with the idea!
This penguin version is particularly cute, my daughter loves to assign all the different penguins to different members of the family, saving the cutest for her.
Fantastic to give as a present (just check to see if they have it first).
That’s Not My Penguin is part of the Usborne ‘Touchy-Feely Books’ series (Titles include many other ‘That’s not my …’ to suit all tastes!) and is a sturdy board book with bold pictures.
Every page has at least one, and sometimes two, touchy-feely sections and the text describes it simply but in a way that’s still entertaining. Even the penguin on the front cover has a fuzzy tummy!
If, like me, you are an old hat at Usborne books and love to hunt for the little yellow duck then I am sorry to say he doesn’t feature in this particular story. There is a mouse to spot on every page instead though, so all is not lost. I must admit that I do miss the duck but that’s just me being silly and sentimental!
These little "That's Not My..." board books are very handy to use to launch a library story time to the mixed age group we entertain -- babies to kindergartners!
This week a frequent library visitor, age 8, wanted to read a story to the crowd. He'd never attended before and was quite surprised when I told him that performing is hard work. I agreed to let him read and gave him this book. Fortunately we had a small crowd, and the children listened attentively had all had a good time.