A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis

• 12/17/2013
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A Penguin Story
Antoinette Portis
HarperCollins (2008)
ISBN 9780061456886
Reviewed by Cayden (age 4) and Max (age 2) Aures and Mom for
Reader Views (11/08)

“A Penguin Story” is a book about a penguin named Edna whose world consists of only three different colors:  white, black and blue.  She knows that there must be more color out there and sets off in hopes of finding something different.

Cayden:  “That would be boring to only have three colors.  We have lots of different colors everywhere.”

Max:  “Penguins get fish!”

Cayden:  “They are hunting them for food.  That one got one and ate it.  Now it is just bones.”

Cayden:  “I hope she finds some more colors!”

Cayden:  “Look!  She found orange!”

Max: “People!  Flags!  Plane!  Orange!”

Cayden:  “Yes, there is a lot of orange!”

Cayden:  “I like now that they have another color instead of just those that they had before.  I hope they can find some other ones too like red and yellow!  I think that they would like those too.  They don’t have those colors.”

Parent’s comments:
My children enjoyed watching Edna the penguin on her quest for something different.  They also liked seeing how penguins play and get their food.  The book was very thought-provoking as my children wondered out loud as to what life would be like with only three colors.  Cayden kept coming up with different scenarios based on this concept.  For instance, what if our world was just blue, green, and yellow?  Or what if the only colors we saw were brown, white, and purple?  The illustrations are very simplistic but they suit the book well.  “A Penguin Story” by Antoinette Portis is a fun book that put my children’s imaginations to work!