Penguins Don't Wear Sweaters

Written by Marikka Tamura
Illustrated by Daniel Rieley
Published in 2018

Why we chose this book:
I love penguins, T is sometimes unsure if penguins are real, and the cover is cute, so I thought this new acquisition at our library could be fun (and a reminder that they are real).

Mom's Review

Friendly looking penguins are dressed in sweaters in a misguided attempt to rehabilitate them after an oil spill.

The narrative style reminded me of Uri Shulevitz's Snow, wasting no words. The penguins are healthy, then confronted with spilled oil, and finally returned to a blue sea. It is a gentle introduction to ecological responsibility for a young audience. What I found most interesting was the author's note at the end, detailing the penguin-sweater events that led to this book. 

Son's Review
(age 3 years)

After reading:
Mom: Did something bad happen to [the penguins]?

Son: There's yucky oil.

Mom: What if you saw a penguin in the oil? What would you do?

Son: I would wear my snow boots! Snow boots don't get anything in them. They protect your feet.

Mom: Did you like this book? What was your favorite part?

Son: Yeah. Where the penguins got icky and gooey.

Mom: How did this book make you feel?

Son: Happy.

Mom: What made you feel happy?

Son: How the penguins got helped.

Mom: What animals would you want to help if you could help animals?

Son: Monkeys and foxes.

Mom: Did you learn anything from this book?

Son: I learned that you should be careful with animals ... so that you don't hurt them.

Mom: Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about this book?

Son: I would like to tell you that it was kind of neat...it was kind of neat because we haven't read it in a while.
(So not true! We read it multiple times just yesterday!)