Hilarious. Great surprise about 2/3 of the way in involving a hungry lion and a noisy little boy. ( )

This is a hilarious story about a little boy who is frustrated with is mute penguin. Well, he thinks his penguin is mute until something extraordinary happens. The antics that Ben, the little boy, goes through to get his pet Penguin to speak will make adults smile and little ones chuckle as they recognize themselves. (Imagine all of the "I would do this..." statements this book will get from any child or group of children you read it to.)

The writing and the illustrations are spare, but pack a wallop. Polly Dunbar used vibrantly colored mixed media to create the illustrations. The lion in the story (yes, there's a lion) is made with a material that almost beckons you to touch.

I can't wait to read this book during a story time! Definitely good for children 5 years and up! Also, good for children who need help in matching facial expressions to emotions. ( )

Checked this out with One Cool Friend and And Tango Makes Three for a trio of penguin books. In Penguin, Ben opens a present and it's a penguin - but Ben's penguin won't talk or play with him at all. After a surprising encounter with a third party, Penguin shows his affection in his own way. Illustrations on a background of white space. ( )

Read for penguin themed storytime at work. Adorable. ( )

The illustrations naive a good discussion point as you do not need to read the words to understand what Ben was saying to the child. Good for PSHE