Review by Booklist Review
Young penguin Flo is attending her first day at preschool. She sports a new pink bow and carries her fish lunch in a pretty pink bucket. After trying her hand at painting, she notices her lunch is nearby but the bucket is gone. Going in search for it, clueless Flo spots a fellow classmate wearing a hat, standing on a tower, and playing a drum, without seeming to realize it's her bucket that is being employed time and again by the imaginative Bob. A minor crisis occurs and Flo springs into action, freeing Bob from a perilous predicament, thus establishing a new friendship. Large simple shapes and uncluttered pastel backgrounds will appeal to very young children. Youngsters will also enjoy spotting the pink pail right in front of Flo's eyes.--Owen, Maryann Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Flo the penguin is starting preschool with a pink bow and a pink lunch bucket. Then, without permission, her new friend Bob walks off with the bucket and plays it with all day, using it as a hat, footstool, and drum. None of this registers with Flo at first (she goes off looking for her bucket while Bob is standing right in front of her, wearing it on his head), but when it finally does, Flo is not even a little miffed. Instead, she fills the bucket with water, which she uses to free Bob, who has gotten himself stuck on a playground slide. At day's end, Bob shows no signs of returning the bucket. "See you tomorrow, Bob!" Flo says cheerfully. "And don't forget our bucket!" British illustrator Ashdown (How the Library [Not the Prince] Saved Rapunzel) has loads of visual talent: her minimalist graphic style is sunny and fun, and her poker-faced characterizations have a naïf charm. But most readers will likely be taken aback by Bob's brazenness and wish that Flo would stand up for herself a little. Ages 4-8. Agency: Bright Agency. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-On the first day of preschool, Flo, a little penguin, meets a classmate who is fascinated by her pink lunch bucket. While Flo is busy painting, Bob purloins her pail. The spare, deadpan narration follows Flo's ensuing search as she nonchalantly passes by bucket-shaped sand castles and casually notices "there was something different" about Bob's appearance. Ashdown's charming mixed-media illustrations show Bob's humorous transformations of the bucket into a hat, a stepping stool, and a drum. When Flo finds her bucket, she uses it to help Bob out of a playground jam and to forge their friendship. VERDICT Pair this title with Antoinette Portis's Not a Box (HarperCollins, 2007) for an imaginative toddler storytime.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Penguin Flo is ready for her first day of preschool. Shes greeted by two new penguin friends, one of whom -- Bob -- eyes her nifty pink lunch bucket. I like your bucket, he announces. While Bob fixates on the bucket, Flo decides to do some painting. But shes soon distracted by a mystery: where is her bucket? Also, there was something different about Bob. Flo wanders off to search, walking past Bob wearing a pink bucket-shaped helmet. Flos complete lack of a clue is hard to believe, but the target audience will get a kick out of her obliviousness (observant preschoolers will note Bobs headgear on the cover and title page). The to-the-point texts deadpan tone makes the whole scenario funnier. Ashdowns simply composed mixed-media illustrations featuring large, solid-shaped penguin characters are well suited for group sharing, and the collage-like elements add enough detail to hold young viewers attention. After a couple more missed connections, Flo finds her bucket -- and not a moment too soon. She uses the bucket (and some water) to help Bob down the slide, and the two play with the bucket until it was time to go home. In the end, Flo may need a new way to carry lunch, but shes gained a friendwho wears a bucket on his head. kitty flynn (c) Copyright 2015. 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
On the first day of preschool, a bucket becomes the catalyst for a wonderful new friendship. Flo arrives for her first day with a pink bow on her head and a red bucket filled with fish: her lunch. (All the characters are rather serious-looking penguins whose emotions are revealed through posture and body language.) The words on the pages follow Flo as she goes through her day, but the pictures tell a somewhat different story. "Flo tried some painting" appears on the verso, but the recto shows Bob, who admired Flo's bucket on a previous page, eyeing said bucket. And a turn of the page reveals fish all over the ground and a missing bucketand "something different" about Bob. The unflappable Flo fails to notice that Bob's new hat is in fact her bucket and goes off to look for it, along the way noticing Bob building a tower (while perched atop the bucket), some sand castles outside (remarkably bucket-shaped), and Bob playing a new drum. Finally, during recess, Flo and her bucket are reunited and come to the rescue of Bob, and a new friend is made. Understated illustrations made of textured papers in muted tones keep the focus on the developing friendship and the slapstick humor. Here's hoping for a return of Bob and Floand for every preschooler to find a friendship like theirs. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
