Once Upon a Penguin

The tag line for Once Upon a Penguin is 'Every book is an adventure' and this message is clear to see throughout this enjoyable and engaging story.

Paco the penguin is the main character of the story. One day, Paco was doing what any other penguin would be doing...sliding down his remote iceberg on his belly. But this day was different because this was the day that Paco stumbled upon something very odd. It was big, it was red, it was flippy flappy in the middle and was certainly something that neither Paco nor the other penguins had ever seen before.

Confused, they work hard to try and figure out what this thing was for. It is at this point that Magda Brol's wonderful illustrations help us to see the clear bemusement on the faces of the penguins as they investigate if the something is actually a roof or a raft or a hat.

Unfortunately, the penguins soon lost interest...all that is expect for Paco. Paco grows curious and soon finds himself studying the little marks within the big, red, flippy flappy thing. As the days and weeks pass, the marks begin to make sense to him and before too long he found himself lost in the many adventures that the marks told him of. Soon enough, the word had spread of Paco's so called adventures. The other penguins flock to hear of these adventures and by the time Paco closes the thing in his hands, they all shout for more.

This leads to the penguins leaving their iceberg to journey far and wide in search for more of these things....a journey that sees them learn what the thing actually is and the fun that comes with them,

Magda Brol has created a story that is full of fun and adventure. The language is easy to read aloud and the story flows effortlessly from page to page. As mentioned before, the illustrations are always a highlight of the book as even without mouths, it is really clear to read the emotions of the penguins throughout their journey.

I shared this text with my 4yo son and he adored it. It has been a regular bedtime read recently and he even had to find his own cuddly penguin to help us during story time. He especially like starting a conversation around the final pages and spotting the types of books that were being read.

A really lovely addition to any bedtime story routine.

Picture book / Ages 3+ / Reviewed by Kyle Matravers, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 3+