This past Thursday (4/25/13) was World Penguin Day.  So I went to the library and checked out as many picture books I could find with penguins in them.

Here are our favorite fiction penguin picture books (so far!).

Baby Penguins Everywhere! by Melissa Guion

Cute and active baby penguins + having a moment to yourself = enjoying baby penguins even more!  Such a good book!    My full review is here.

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One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo and Pictures by David Small

Very well-mannered Elliot brings home a penguin from the aquarium one day.  His father’s reaction made me laugh!

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Sergio Saves the Game by Edel Rodriguez

Sergio wants to be a famous soccer player, but he’s not very good.  With lots of practice, he gets better. He is able to help his team, but in a surprising way.

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The Adventures of Marco and Polo by Dieter Wiesmuller

Marco, the monkey, meets Polo, the penguin, while he is exploring Antarctica.  They become friends and Marco brings Polo back to Africa to see where he lives.  They enjoy showing each other around their home terrains.  Neither can tolerate the climate of their friend’s home, so they try to find a common ground where they can both live.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out and both go back to their respective homes.  The happy news is that they still keep in touch.

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Flight of the Dodo by Peter Brown

When a penguin gets tired of getting pooped on by birds that can fly, he decides that it is time for him to fly! He enlists the help of his other flightless-bird friends to build a flying contraption that they name the Dodo.  They have a great time!  Unfortunately, they run into problems.  With some fast thinking (and pooping) they are able to signal for help.  Poop is funny, penguin poop is even funnier, penguin pooping to signal for help, is the funniest of all.

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Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

When a penguin arrives at a boy’s door, the boy realizes that the penguin is lost.  After lots of searching he learns that penguins come from Antarctica.  He gets his boat ready and brings the penguin home.  The penguin looks sadder than ever when the boy gets back in the boat to head home.  While the boy is rowing home he realizes that the penguin wasn’t lost, he was lonely.  Quickly he heads back and eventually finds his friend penguin.  A beautiful book about finding a friend.

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A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis

A little penguin is sure that there is more to life.  She decides to set out in search of this something more.  She finds it!  A beautiful book.

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All by Myself! by Émile Jadoul

Every night Leon wakes up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.  He also calls to his mother that he needs to go potty.  She gets up and helps him go to the bathroom.  Sometimes, when he has to go to the bathroom twice in one night, he calls for his father.  Because his parents keep waking up to help him go to the bathroom, they are very tired in the mornings.  His parents then talk with him about going to the potty in the middle of the night by himself.  The next night, Leon is successful!  He goes to the potty in the middle of the night all by himself!

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Oliver by Judith Rossell

Not exactly about penguins, but one day after a bath, Oliver wonders what’s down the bathtub drain.  He goes on an adventure to see what is down the drain.  Here he meets — penguins with jet packs!   (So that’s what’s down the bathtub drain.)  Penguins + Jet Packs = Lots of fun!

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Turtle’s Penguin Day by Valeri Gorbachev

After hearing his father tell him a bedtime story about penguins, he decides that he wants to be a penguin!  He dresses up and goes to school inspiring his entire class and an entire day is dedicated to being a penguin.

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Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon

A sweet and beautiful book about friendship between a penguin and a pinecone.  You can read my full review here.  There are several wonderful books starring Penguin by Salina Yoon.

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Tacky in Trouble by Helen Lester and Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

My son loves all of the Tacky books.  Tacky isn’t like the other penguins, but he always manages to come out on top.  In this installment, he goes surfing (the wind uses his shirt as a sail) and ends up on a beach.  Here he runs into an elephant who thinks that Tacky is a bunch of flowers.  The elephant takes him home to put in a vase of flowers.  Now, Tacky has to prove to the elephant that he’s not actually a bunch of flowers, but a penguin.  The story ends with a beautiful work of art for the elephant.

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Don’t Be Afraid, Little Pip by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

Little Pip is not interested in learned how to swim, but instead how to fly.  Little Pip goes to a Snow Petrel and a Giant Albatross asking them to teach her how to fly.  They try, but because Little Pip is a penguin, she just can’t seem to do it.  On her last attempt to fly she lands in the water instead.  She learns that swimming is wonderful and that, “Swimming IS flying.”  A fun and adventurous story!

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Little Penguin’s Tale by Audrey Wood

Every book we’ve read by Audrey Wood has been a win in our house.  This one is fun, though a bit shocking at one point.  This is the tale, told by Gran Nanny Penguin, of a little penguin who goes out, by himself, not realizing the danger he’s putting himself in.  When the little penguin is EATEN BY A WHALE everyone who is listening to Gran Nanny Penguin is horrified. (Including me and my son.)  With some fast thinking and fast story telling, Gran Nanny Penguin is able to modify the story so the little penguin actually only ends up losing his tail.  My son is memorized by this story.  It certainly surprised me!

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Penguins by Liz Pichon

What happens when penguins get a hold of a camera that lands in their home at the aquarium?  Lots of fun pictures!  It’s very well done and quite creative. It made my son giggle a lot.  He had me read this story to him many times.

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What Are Your Favorite Penguin Picture Books?

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Where Obtained:  I received Baby Penguins Everywhere! from the author for review on this site. All of the other books have been obtained from the library.

FTC Disclosures:  The links in the post above are Amazon affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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