The Penguin Lady

by Carol A. Cole, Sherry Rogers

Overview

Penelope Parker lives with penguins! Short ones, tall ones; young and old the penguins are from all over the Southern Hemisphere including some that live near the equator! Do the penguin antics prove too much for her to handle? Children count and then compare and contrast the different penguin species as they learn geography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607185451
Publisher:	Arbordale Publishing
Publication date:	02/10/2012
Series:	The Penguin Lady , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Carol A. Cole has worked with young children in schools for about 30 years as a pediatric physical therapist. Carol started writing “scripts” for a favorite TV show when she was ten years old and hasn't stopped writing since. She’s the author of numerous articles and short stories found online and in anthologies. This is her debut picture book. Carol based this story on one of the teachers with whom she works—the original Penguin Lady. Penguin mouse pads, puzzles, wall decorations, and inflatable penguins fill the Penguin Lady’s classroom, leading Carol to wonder what would happen should real penguins move in. Carol and her family live in Northern Virginia.

Sherry Rogers spent twelve years as a corporate graphic designer and artist before “leaving it all behind” for the freelance world of illustrating children’s books. Through illustrating The First Fire, Sherry remembers her own ancestor, Na Ni, a Cherokee woman from the mountains of North Carolina. Some of Sherry’s other Sylvan Dell titles include The Penguin Lady, Ten for Me, Hey Diddle Diddle, Newton and Me, Moose and Magpie, Paws, Claws, Hands & Feet, and The Deductive Detective; as well as her award-winning titles: Sort It Out!, Kersplatypus,Burro’s Tortillas, and If You Were a Parrot. Sherry lives in Northern California with her family and their pets.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 2—The Penguin Lady is portrayed in vibrantly colored illustrations: she dresses in black and white, decorates with black and white, waddles, and loves these birds. She is delighted to receive a penguin from the Galápagos Islands for her birthday, two Rockhoppers from Argentina, three Chinstraps from Antarctica, four baby African penguins, five Little Blue penguins, six Royal penguins from an island near Antarctica, seven King penguins from the Falkland Islands, eight Adélies from Antarctica, nine Macaroni penguins from Argentina, and ten Emperor penguins from Antarctica. They all roam throughout the house, yard, and pond until the Penguin Lady gives them to the local zoo. This book serves as a simple counting book and an introduction to 10 species. A four-page activity section includes illustrations of the penguins with brief descriptions of physical characteristics; a world map; and a height chart. Acknowledging the far-fetched nature of this whimsical story, the author states that "it isn't possible for individuals to have penguins as pets" and encourages readers to adopt a species with a donation to a zoo or conservation program. Offer young readers Jonathan London's Little Penguin: Emperor of Antarctica (Marshall Cavendish, 2011) and Wendell Minor's If You Were a Penguin (HarperCollins, 2009) for stronger stories and solid facts about these intriguing birds.—Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI

School Library Journal

"This book serves as a simple counting book and an introduction to 10 species. - School Library Journal

From the Publisher

A parade of penguin species, overlaid by a veneer-thin storyline. Starting with one Galapagos penguin and going on up to 10 Emperors, a succession of avian arrivals fills up the house of penguin-lover Penelope Parker--a "stout" redhead who wears only black and white in Rogers' smooth-surfaced, increasingly crowded illustrations and, just like her surprise guests, "waddle[s] when she walk[s]." Depicted with reasonable attention to details of beak, crest and other physical features, the feathered interlopers snooze atop the piano, pose in front of the television or paddle about the pond in the yard until Penelope at last trucks them away to the zoo, then goes off to buy a dog. Several pages of penguin information (including a cogent note in the fine print that, no, "it isn't possible… to have penguins as pets") and discussion questions follow this predictable episode, supplemented by further resources available on the publisher's web site. A digital version with added features is also available. A lightweight, undistinguished addition to the flock of similar penguin profiles. Some newly fledged readers may waddle its way. (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews