I am Actually a Penguin

When a little girl is given a penguin suit she decides that living as a penguin is much more fun than just dressing as one. But penguins don't exactly behave like people. They don't ride the bus like people, they don't talk like people and they certainly don't catch fish fingers like people. Her family tell her, "You're not actually a penguin," but she knows that she ACTUALLY is. A hilarious new picture book from Sean Taylor, the author of What a Naughty Bird and Kasia Matyjaszek, author/illustrator of I am a Very Clever Cat.

About the Author :
Sean Taylor (Author) Sean Taylor is an award-winning author of books for young readers of many different ages. His picture books include Hoot Owl Master of Disguise, It's A Groovy World, Alfredo!, Robot Rumpus, BOING!, When a Monster is Born and Crocodiles are the Best Animals of All! He has also written the Purple Class series of comic adventures set in an urban primary school, a collection of folktales from the Amazon called The Great Snake, and the novel for teenagers A Waste of Good Paper. Over the years he and his family have spent spells living in England (where he was born) and Brazil (where his wife is from). Kasia Matyjaszek (Illustrator) Kasia is an Edinburgh-based illustrator. She graduated with a Masters in Illustration from The Edinburgh College of Art in 2010. Her artwork has been highly commended in the Macmillan Book Prize and she was a finalist the Picture Hooks mentoring scheme . I am a Very Clever Cat is the first book she has both written and illustrated.

Review :
The little girl loves dressing up, so when she is given a penguin suit she decides that living as a penguin is much more fun than just dressing as one. But the trouble is, penguins don't exactly behave like people. They come down stairs differently, they live on ice and their diet is quite different. But when her family tell her, "You're not actually a penguin," she knows that she ACTUALLY is. But all good things come to an end... Fun and unusual. I once had a little girl in one of my reception classes who insisted for the first week that she was a dog, crawling around the place, drinking her milk on all fours, clutching the carton in her 'paws' and barking at her classmates. We all played along and soon the novelty wore off. The small girl narrator of this book is equally cute and equally determined; but having received a penguin suit from her Uncle Pat in Patagonia, she goes into full on, 'actually a penguin' mode right away. This involves all sorts of crazy activities such as festooning the living room with loo paper to create snow in which to keep cool. Such behaviour definitely doesn't go down well with a certain older brother although he does approve of the additional penguin at a family wedding ...and is willing to play along at meal times, especially when fish fingers are involved All good things do have to come to an end however. Apart from anything else there's the question of school, not to mention as Dad rightly says, "Your penguin suit needs a wash." Time for a change perhaps ... Sean Taylor's zany sense of humour shines through in this narrative providing Kasia Matyjaszek with a hilarious sequence of events to wield her illustrative magic on and she does it brilliantly making every spread a small piece of theatre. Not all penguins live amongst the ice and snow... Author Sean Taylor and illustrator Kasia Matyjaszek are on top form in a joyously comical picture book that celebrates the power of a child's imagination. Every parent knows their child loves dressing up but one little girl is convinced that she has actually turned into a penguin... The little girl loves putting on her dressing-up clothes because that way, she doesn't have to be 'me' any more. But when she is given her favourite outfit, a penguin suit, she decides that living as a penguin is much more fun than just dressing as one. The problem is that penguins don't exactly behave like people... they don't ride on the bus like people, they don't talk like people and they certainly don't catch fish fingers like people. Her mum worries she might break something when she comes down the stairs like a penguin and her dad is trying to get used to giving a goodnight kiss to a penguin. In fact, all her family tell her, 'You're not actually a penguin' but she knows that she actually is! Taylor, author of Hoot Owl, captures the wonderful spirit of youthful imagination and enterprise in this funny, charming story packed with Matyjaszek's warm, whimsical and vibrant illustrations. Everyone will be flapping their wings with joy when they p-p-p-pick up this penguin adventure! Do you know a child who loves to dress up? Well this is the perfect picture book for that child. Quite probably the perfect picture book for the parent of that child too. The story begins with an introduction to a small girl who loves to wear her fancy dress outfits and for a little while be someone completely different. One day a rather special outfit arrives and our heroine dons the perfect penguin outfit. She loves it so much that she wears it everywhere and every day no matter what. This means that she wears it on the bus, to the supermarket, in the playground and even, would you believe, to a wedding. The problem is not only does she want to look like a penguin she wants to behave like one too because although her long suffering parents keep telling her that you are not ACTUALLY a penguin she, of course, is convinced that she is. The determination of this small person to live in her imagined world is just lovely and I'm sure that many parents will recognise this attitude. The text is very funny and the illustrations add to the humour beautifully. The expressions on the little girl/penguin's face convey various emotions with very subtle changes. For example on one page she sits in the fridge looking for all the world like a sulky teenage penguin and then on the next she trudges up the stairs like a toddler penguin about to sob. The partnership of text and pictures works extremely well and definitely adds to this book's appeal. Many small children will understand and empathise with the concept of dressing up and the power of imaginative play and this story would be lovely to share and read aloud. I loved the twist at the end and think young children will too. This is a very happy book. This is a story about a little girl who lovesdressing up. She is delighted to receive a penguin suit from her uncle and wants to wear it all the time. Not only that, she tries to BECOME a penguin as much as she can from how she gets downstairs (not recommended) to what she eats; though trying to catch fish fingers in her mouth proves a bit of a challenge. She is allowed to wear her penguin suit to her auntie's wedding, but when it comes to going to school her parents put their foot down, no penguin suit, anyway it needs washing, so she takes it off and decides to become.... an alligator instead! An amusing story about the fun of dressing up and getting really engrossed in imaginative play.