Turtle's Penguin Day

by Valeri Gorbachev

Overview

Turtle is so excited by the book about penguins that his dad reads him at bedtime that he decides he wants to be a penguin. So the next morning, he creates a penguin costume, grabs his book, and heads for the schoolbus. His kindergarten classmates are thrilled. They all want to be penguins too! Turtle shows his book to his teacher, and all day long he and his classmates do as the penguins do—they slide down the slide on their bellies during recess, form a waddling conga line at music time, and snack on goldfish crackers. It's a super-cool penguin day! This delightful picture book from Valeri Gorbachev is a perfect blueprint for teachers (and kids) to plan penguin days of their own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375843747
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	08/12/2008
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD700L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

VALERI GORBACHEV has both written and illustrated dozens of picture books in his long career. His most recent books for Knopf are The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning and Go! Poetry in Motion by Dee Lillegard. Mr. Gorbachev lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Editorial Reviews

Little turtle is read a bedtime story about penguins by his father. That night he dreams he is a penguin, doing all sorts of penguin-like things. When he wakes up, he dresses like a penguin and goes to school. All of his friends love his idea, and they have a penguin day at school. He comes home and continues his adventures at dinner. That night, his father reads him a bedtime story about monkeys, and he dreams about monkeys. The author leaves the reader guessing about what might happen the next day. This adorable story about the little turtle's adventures shows the reader how exciting it is to use your imagination to make your own fun. The reader learns some facts about penguins while reading this fictional story. The hilarious pictures add to the excitement of the story and give the characters in the story personality. The author gives penguin facts at the end of the story, which would add to any science curriculum about habitats. This story is a must-read for young children, and it may spark ideas in children on ways to be creative. Reviewer: Rachel Miller

Children's Literature - Rachel Miller

PreS-Gr 1

This endearing tale traces the activities of a young turtle through a 24-hour period. His father reads a bedtime story about penguins, and Little Turtle takes it all in, the transformation beginning in his dreams. The next morning, he puts his grandfather's black jacket over his head and waddles off to school, book in tow. His friends are delighted. The teacher, who clearly understands the value of a teachable moment, encourages the class of critters to pass balls to each other using just their feet (as penguins do with their eggs) and to slip down the slide on their bellies (again imitating their role models). The fantasy continues through the youngster's evening routines-until his dad opens a volume on monkeys. Cheerful watercolors and expressive line art imbue the matter-of-fact narrative with personality. Gorbachev's compositions range from cameos isolated against expansive white backgrounds to detailed dream sequences bleeding off spreads. This nurturing tale celebrates the inspiration and information found in books, the invention bubbling up from a child who is read to, and the quality of learning that is possible when a teacher seizes the moment. From the cover art mimicking a tuxedo to the penguin facts at the conclusion, the design and content are one.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library

School Library Journal

The theory/practice continuum gets a comically endearing shake: The theory is that books can transport; the practice is getting the transport out of your head and giving it a ride. Father Turtle reads a book about penguins to Little Turtle. Little Turtle is smitten, enough so that he is ready to turn in his shell for a tuxedo, but some swaddling, a pair of red slippers and his grandfather's old black coat do quite nicely. Little Turtle's enthusiasm is as communicable as pink-eye, and all the kids in his class get it. For a day they are penguins: waddling, belly-sliding, passing a ball about with their feet as penguins do their eggs. Then that night, Father Turtle reads Little Turtle a book about monkeys. Pass the bananas. Gorbachev's narrative is easy, keeping the story suggestively simple so as to let the reader slip right in, and his ink-and-watercolor artwork basks in the elemental joy of make-believe. Not so sly as sweet: Just as Little Turtle is ready to shrug out of his shell, readers will be anxious to shrug into theirs. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Starred Review, School Library Journal, August 2008:
"This nurturing tale celebrates the inspiration and information found in books."

From the Publisher