Bye, Penguin!

by Seou Lee

Overview

You'd think that a penguin stranded on an ever-smaller block of ice, on a trip around the world wouldn't be so.FUN! But it is! There's our fearless penguin passing the gondolas of Venice.there's penguin floating by the Sydney Opera House! From the Aurora Borealis to a hilarious encounter with a surfer in Hawaii, this is a wordless journey that truly FROLICKS. In fact, the adventures are so amusing that most readers will barely register the nod to global warming until it's slipped right in on the breath of a laugh.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646140213
Publisher:	Levine Querido
Publication date:	10/27/2020
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.75(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

An author and an animator, Seou Lee fell in love with illustration as a child because of the many books in her parents' daycare. Her greatest dream has always been to illustrate fun, heartwarming stories for kids.

Editorial Reviews

08/24/2020

With a “Craaaack” and a “Snick!”—the only text in animator Lee’s otherwise wordless story—a little penguin suddenly floats away from its colony on a small ice floe. As it leaves behind a home that’s rendered in black-and-white (except for the penguin’s own jaunty bright orange beak), shock and sorrow give way to wonder and color: the ink and watercolor–style digital cartoons portray a shimmering green aurora, a gawk from Rio’s otherwise majestic Christ the Redeemer statue, azure and turquoise seas, and a “wave” from the Statue of Liberty, which the penguin returns with aplomb. The only human in the story, a young surfer, appears near a warm island just as the floe’s shrinkage become untenable; when next seen, the penguin arrives back at the colony on a red and yellow surfboard, while the board’s former owner stares at the tiny piece of ice garnered in exchange. Readers attuned to climate change’s impact on the polar regions may expect a more substantial message, but Lee sticks to her plot—winningly winsome, and bound to elicit laughs. Ages 4–7. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

2020-06-30
This nearly wordless narrative traces a penguin chick’s solo voyage around the world.

The opening scenes depict a frozen, black, white, and gray world populated by penguins of various sizes and dispositions. The protagonist, not a fuzzy chick but a bit smaller than the adults, stands alone on the other side of the gutter near the water, orange beak grasping a fish. All heads turn toward the sound “Snick!” whereupon firm land becomes an ice floe, and the young one drifts off, crying out in distress. While the current is unstoppable, the unwilling traveler is soon distracted by the green southern lights that suddenly fill the sky. The penguin is eventually greeted by the outstretched arms of the Christ the Redeemer sculpture in Brazil and, a page turn later, the Statue of Liberty in America. The dappled Mediterranean light fills the background as the floe passes a blue-domed church in Greece before mingling with sailboats near the Sydney Opera House. (Locations are not identified, but the impact of miles covered is felt.) Lee’s compositions achieve a pleasing harmony between the emotional clarity of her caricature linework and softer effects in her panoramas. When the hero, bedecked with a lei, glides home on an orange-red surfboard and the page turn reveals a brown-skinned surfer contemplating an ice sliver, the subtle message of global warming is left to readers to discuss or not.

Children will relate to the pangs of separation and rejoice in the sweetness (and humor) of reunion. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews