Penguin Post

My almost-three-year-old daughter loves this book. We checked it out from the library along with other penguin books, and this is the one that most captured her imagination, so we decided to buy it. She liked And Tango Makes Three well enough, but it was much more about the parents (Roy and Silo) than about young Tango--Penguin Post is about a young penguin preparing for a new sibling. In response to earlier reviews: I don't think the point of this book is to get across to youngsters how much work newborns/babies entail, and I don't agree that there are holes in the plot. It appears to me that the point is to bring Milo, a young penguin dubious about the arrival of a new baby, around to getting prepared and even excited about the new sibling and feeling empowered about being an older brother. I think it succeeds in this regard. As I've read this book so many times I can also attest that the egg got into the mail bag when his father set it down to put some packages back in after they fell out--an egg-shaped package got warmed under Dad's fluffed-up feathers instead--not sure about the message this sends concerning parental responsibility, but a young child is probably not going to go there, and will instead just be charmed by the characters and word play. On the whole, this is a book that both my daughter and I can agree to like--there's some word play for me and nothing that makes me cringe--and she gets to see different types of animal families personified, which is always hit.

This story is about a young Penguin named Milo. Milo's about to have a baby brother. However, mother has to leave home on a food expedition and father needs to deliver the mail. Somebody has to sit on the egg. Father wants Milo to, but Milo wants to deliver the mail instead. So, Milo sets off an a journey delivering packages to all sorts of residents. He has a grand adventure and returns home for a surprise.This is a nice, little story. I love penguins and I enjoyed reading through this book. However, it does contain a hole in the plot that will probably confuse readers (I still don't understand how the egg ended up in the bag). However, the pictures are vivid and colorful and the addresses on each package are filled with clever word play that slightly older children will love figuring out. Recommended for early elementary students.

My kids liked this story but it fails to make some connections for little ones. It is about a little penguin who is about to be a big brother but who is responsible for delivering packages all over the frosty north. All the deliveries are items that mothers are using to take care of their babies. By the end the little Penguin has decided he is ready for his baby brother's egg to hatch. There is no connection that he has learned that taking care of a baby takes a lot of work. If you are looking for a book to introduce big brothers or big sisters to the arrival of a baby this would not be my first recommendation. If you want to introduce the mail system it is pretty decent at describing package delivery.