Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3-6. Storyteller Grand Nanny Penguin spins a clever yarn about wayward Little Penguin who prefers to seek adventure in the polar world rather than listen to Grand Nanny's stories. Little Penguin slides on his tummy up and down the snowy slopes, dances with gooney birds, and kicks up his heels at the Walrus Polar Club. Before each escapade, Grand Nanny predicts dire consequences, which never happen. When Little Penguin is swallowed by a whale, the audience of young penguins bursts into tears, causing Grand Nanny to change the ending to a happier one. Little Penguin returns to his family, in the process losing only a few tail feathers. This offering lacks the lyrical quality of Wood's The Napping House [BKL My 15 84], the creativity of King Bidgood's in the Bathtub [BKL O 1 85], and the drama of Heckedy Peg [BKL S 15 87]. Yet, with its solid story line, full-color drawings, and lively, multicolored animal characters, this book stands ably on its own. The deep greens, bright yellows, and glacial blues depict a northern world of fun and frolic that is warm and appealing. A sure hit for the read-aloud crowd. --Deborah Abbott
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
As Grand Nanny is describing the antics of a young penguin of long ago, Little Penguin sneaks off for adventures of his own. He slides up and down icy mountains, dances with the wonderfully wild gooney birds and joins in the merriment at the madcap Walrus Polar Club; his adventures parallel those of Grand Nanny's story. Then comes the sad part of her tale--Little Penguin is eaten by a whale. But her charges wail and weep until she offers a new ending: Little Penguin escapes. With outlandish humor and fabulous color illustrations, Wood serves up a goodnatured romp across the polar cap. Ages 3-7. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
Fiction: PB As Grand Nanny Penguin tells an exciting story to a group of young ones, we see a small penguin acting out the hazardous adventures with gooney birds and great whales, ending up safely with Grand Nanny and his friends - minus a few of his tail feathers. The vibrant, pulsating color backgrounds of the polar scenery set off the severe black-and-white of the penguins. An amusing story, but the ending is inconclusive. Horn Rating: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The irrepressible author of Elbert's Bad Word and King Bidgood's in the Bathtub for the first time illustrates her own book in full color--successfully bringing out the humor of her ebullient text while creating unusually lively, interesting illustrations. As Grand Nanny Penguin tells her six little charges about the adventures of a little, long-ago penguin, who ""snuck off to have some fun,"" a seventh penguin is seen similarly making tracks for the great unknown. The penguin in Nanny's story has several close shaves and some wild adventures, chief among them going off in a rickety boat with a bunch of gooney birds who take him to the Walrus Polar Club--a cross between a circus and a nightclub. Then he gets eaten by a whale--but that doesn't suit Nanny's audience, so she provides an alternative happy ending, just as the seventh present-day penguin comes running back to join his mates. Nanny with her pince-nez and the little ones--each with a basket of fruit that they consume as the book progresses--are comically expressive, while Wood's nicely painted sky, sea, and the icy hills (where tracks betray the wayward penguin's true activities) make a dramatic setting. Rollicking good fun--in a book that well rewards rereading. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
