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(based on 10 reviews)
 Pure lines and intentions
Written by E. R. Bird from Manhattan, NY
Dec 26, 2008
Some of the picture books I read make me wish I were a better reviewer. I know my history of the art form. I know what makes one book a stronger better read than another. I can sense when a book will feel right to an adult and to a child. But I am bested by the best sometimes. A Penguin Story comes from Antoinette Portis, a woman who has figured out how to do something extraordinarily difficult: combine good design with pitch-perfect storytelling. Not a Box, her debut, was no fluke. Switching gears away from the imaginative simplicity of her earlier work, Portis retains her sense of bold lines and simple storytelling to tell the tale of a penguin in search of color.
Edna is not a discontented penguin, but something has occurred to her. There is the white snow by day, the black sky at night, and the blue sea and sky. Yet surely, surely there are other colors out there, right? Determined, Edna goes to look for something new. She searches, and she searches, and then one day she finds it. Orange. In delight she invites the other penguins to see as well and they discover the orange to be that of a tent set up by some human researchers. As they leave, the humans give Edna an orange glove, leaving her to wonder whether or not there might be more colors out there unexplored. A green ship in the distance behind her, suggests at future discoveries.
I have a couple tried and true topics which can always be counted upon to inspire a good rant. One of my favorites involves well-designed picture books. Here's a fun activity: Walk into a museum's gift shop or a high-end children's toy store. Now locate the books in that store and tell me what you see. Before your eyes you are going to be treated to a host of titles that pleased adult after adult through every step of their production and completion, and please not a single child once they've entered the public sphere. I think of books like David Pelletier's Caldecott Honor winning The Graphic Alphabet which garnered accolades from grown-ups and soft unbroken snores from tots. And anytime an album cover artist breeds and decides to make some kind of new abecedarian wonder, you can bet it'll be the cream of the hipster parenting set. My point is that this does not always have to be the case. One Red Dot by David A. Carter, for example, was a wonderful mix of design brilliance and kid-friendly fare. Or Laura Ljungkvist's Follow the Line might be another example. Portis has discovered this balance, and part of what makes her books so brilliant are their pairing of pure lines and fine storytelling.
As with her Not a Box, Portis is a fan of a thick black line. Her penguins are not expressionless, but they are simplified. They are almost the merest idea of what a penguin consists of. A bullet shaped body. One half black, one half white. A triangle for a beak. Voila! Instant penguin. Yet the black of their backs is often speckled in white. The sea and the sky may sit fixed and blue and pure, but not our petite heroes. And once you get a feel for the blue dotted ice and clouds, you begin to notice the tiny details not immediately apparent in this seemingly simple book. When Edna leaves some of her friends doing acrobatics on an ice flow, the next shot shows them as distant black dots in the distance as Edna continues her search. Much of the book relies on what Edna misses and the reader sees. She does not see the orange plane that flies behind her head, or the deep green ship near the end of the book. Kids will, however, and they'll get a small thrill in the process.
On top of beautifully designed creatures and hidden details, there are also the colors. It is necessary to the story that Edna find a new color, so it would make sense to find something across the color chart from her already familiar blue. That color, logically, should be orange, and whatta orange! That single picture of Edna drawn entirely in orange, sheer waves of it breaking off her skin, expresses better than anything else the newness of the discovery. It also happens to be coupled perfectly with the next image, a tiny Edna hugging the massive orange tent, her little body leaning into it like it's a long lost friend. So there you have it. All at once an intelligent use of color to support the story is paired with small touching details that buoy it along. Add in endpapers that are orange in the front and green in the back and you've a lovely little surprise on your hands. Seemingly simple, surprisingly well thought out.
Once Harper Collins stops releasing Antoinette Portis books at the end of each given year and starts releasing her during sunnier months, she will find her following. Until that happy day arrives, however, she will have to remain our little secret. For anyone who enjoyed Not a Box or Not a Stick but hungered for a little more story, A Penguin Story delivers that same sweet sensibility with a familiar design. Just the right blend of child and adult friendliness guarantees this book a wide, loving audience. Penguin-related perfection.
(27 of 28 people found this review helpful)
A simplistic, thought-provoking book!
Written by Reader Views from Austin, Texas
Dec 23, 2008
Reviewed by Cayden (age 4) and Max (age 2) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (11/08)
"A Penguin Story" is a book about a penguin named Edna whose world consists of only three different colors: white, black and blue. She knows that there must be more color out there and sets off in hopes of finding something different.
Cayden: "That would be boring to only have three colors. We have lots of different colors everywhere."
Max: "Penguins get fish!"
Cayden: "They are hunting them for food. That one got one and ate it. Now it is just bones."
Cayden: "I hope she finds some more colors!"
Cayden: "Look! She found orange!"
Max: "People! Flags! Plane! Orange!"
Cayden: "Yes, there is a lot of orange!"
Cayden: "I like now that they have another color instead of just those that they had before. I hope they can find some other ones too like red and yellow! I think that they would like those too. They don't have those colors."
Parent's comments:
My children enjoyed watching Edna the penguin on her quest for something different. They also liked seeing how penguins play and get their food. The book was very thought-provoking as my children wondered out loud as to what life would be like with only three colors. Cayden kept coming up with different scenarios based on this concept. For instance, what if our world was just blue, green, and yellow? Or what if the only colors we saw were brown, white, and purple? The illustrations are very simplistic but they suit the book well. "A Penguin Story" by Antoinette Portis is a fun book that put my children's imaginations to work!
(11 of 11 people found this review helpful)
a perfect story
Written by cj from
Nov 21, 2009
I read this book in a local bookstore and was totally won over by the story. I wasn't sure how it would work with kids but when I bought it for my 3 year old niece she simply LOVED it. Perfect on so many levels.
(4 of 4 people found this review helpful)
Toddler approved!
Written by E. T. Truax from New York
Mar 20, 2009
My daughter is almost 2 and has not put this book down since we borrowed it from the library! "Read Penguin!" she says, over and over. She'll also look at it by herself because it's so simply and beautifully done and she can name all the colors and objects in the book (White! Black! Blue! Fish! Penguins! Orange! People! Airplane! Green!) Each time she's delighted to giggles by Edna wearing the orange glove as a hat at the end. Bravo.
(4 of 4 people found this review helpful)
The Perfect Book for 4-year-old Artists
Written by D.J. McKenna from Pacific Palisades, CA
Mar 02, 2009
Edna the Penguin is an artist at heart. She knows there are COLORS out there beyond the blue sea, the black night, the white snow. She sets out to find them and literally stumbles into ORANGE (an arctic expedition tent).
The simple illustrations somehow manage to show both such yearing and such joy. Antoinette Portis has the magic touch; this book will surely amuse, engage and touch the hearts and imagination of her young audience.
If you have a child who LOVES his green crayon, or her purple paintbrush... then he/she will love going on this particular penguin adventure.
(3 of 3 people found this review helpful)
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