I imagine it is obvious to you that we have many many books. Many many many books. And we get more delivered from publishers, bought by M...

Papa Penguin

Friday, April 21, 2017 BookBairn 22 Comments

I imagine it is obvious to you that we have many many books. Many many many books. And we get more delivered from publishers, bought by Mummy, gifted to us and borrowed from the library on a regular basis. And sometimes those new books are a hit and other times they are a miss. It's all about timing. If BookBairn isn't interested in a book the day it arrives I keep it on the living room floor for a couple of days to see if she picks it up, and if not I stash it away for a few weeks, bringing it back out at another date. And some books never really make their way onto our Favourites Shelf and we re-home them.

But sometimes the right book just comes along at the very right moment and makes it's way into your heart! For BookBairn's second birthday we took her to the zoo to see lots of her favourite animals up close and of course she just adored seeing the penguins! And one of her favourite people in the whole wide world is her Papa Colin (you might have noticed he is one of our most supportive readers, having commented on every blog post I've ever written). So the perfect book combination came along in Morag Hood's 'When Grandad Was A Penguin' (I hope you don't mind, Morag, that we have renamed your book 'Papa Penguin'!).

This lovely book tells the story of a little girl (who does not look dissimilar from how I imagine BookBairn will look when she is older) who goes to visit her Papa. But something is a little bit odd. He talked a lot about fishing, his clothes were too big, he was spending a lot of time in the freezer and getting through mountains of tinned fish. Hmmmmm, BookBairn's Papa likes to golf not fish, his clothes usually fit just fine, he doesn't like to be chilly and much prefers chocolate biscuits to fish for a snack... something is definitely not quite right. Then one day the zoo calls. There has been a mix-up and the little girl and her 'odd' Papa head to the zoo to sort things out and you'll never guess who is inside the penguin enclosure: the little girl's real Papa!! (minus his glasses which the penguin has been wearing the whole time - BookBairn loves that part). So the penguin and the girl say their goodbyes, and the little girl takes her Papa home... well... sort of...

BookBairn just loves this story - she definitely understands that the little girl thinks that the penguin is her Papa but BookBairn knows that something is up! She loves that strange things that the penguin gets up to and she loves that he is wearing the Papa's glasses. She laughs that he is in the freezer beside the ice cream! She likes finding the odd penguin out in the endpapers - it's just a brilliant read for her.

I have mentioned before that BookBairn seems to really enjoy books where the illustrations are set against quite simple or plain backgrounds (I think this is because it allows her to focus on the main action in the foreground) and this book does that beautifully. The characters are also deceptively simple meaning that BookBairn can discuss the picture with ease and likes to retell the story in her own words (what a great way to support pre-reading and literacy skills for a child as young as two-years-old). And if you've read 'Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea' by the same author you might spot a few connecting illustrative details too.

BookBairn loves this one so much - it has made it on to the Favourites Shelf with ease and she has shared it at nap-time story with her Papa, much to his amusement!

Here's a few words from our real-life Papa Penguin on sharing this story with BookBairn: "This a great book and BookBairn and I have quite a giggle when we read it together. I have to take my glasses off to read but the penguin wears Papa's glasses in the book so BookBairn will often say "Glasses on, Papa". I don't mind BookBairn comparing me to a penguin since they are her favourite animals but is is nice to know that my clothes still fit even after all the chocolate biscuits!"

The perfect book to be enjoyed with Papa (and maybe a Penguin biscuit?)
Mummy, BookBairn and Papa Penguin xx


*DISCLAIMER* I was given our book for free for review purposes, however, all words and opinions are my own, BookBairn's own and Papa's own!



22 comments:

  1. You will need to read this book to see what I'm replaced by after the penguin goes back to the zoo. You'll never guess.

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    1. Thanks for contributing to the post! And for reading nap time story!

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  2. Oh this looks like such a sweet story and so nice for bookbairn to share it with her papa! Thanks for sharing with #readwithme

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    1. We've been sent a couple of great Papa books recently, and she adores her Papa so it's great to see them have special time together sharing stories!

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  3. My younger son is penguin mad, so he would absolutely love this. It sounds a lovely story #readwithme

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    1. Who wouldn't like the idea of their Papa being left at the zoo?! Such a sweet story!

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  4. I love the sound of this story. Did you know that today is #WorldPenguinDay?

    #ReadWithMe

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    1. I would have missed it if you hadn't sent this! Thanks for letting me know!

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  5. This sounds a fun book. But isn't little Book Bairn starting to look all grown up??
    Here's hoping she carries on with her love of books.
    #readwithme

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    1. She started looking quite grown up to us when we found out we were expecting her brother. She's a big sister now!

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  6. This looks like a lovely book. Lovely photos too.

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  7. Oh this sounds a lovely read! We have penguins in our local aquarium and love books about penguins too. Will have to check this out! xx
    #KLTR

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    1. Our local aquarium has penguins too and BookBairn likes to watch them and waddle along beside the windows to the enclosure! Kids are so sweet!

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  8. I've not heard of this book, it sounds lovely and very funny for little ones. I love that BookBairn likes to share it with her Papa, what a lovely way to make memories #kltr

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    1. Isn't reading stories together one of the best ways to create special memories? Xx

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  9. We have just read this one too. We love what Papa gets mixed up with at the end (Izzie's favourite)! The end papers are cute too x #KLTR #ReadWithMe

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    1. Yes! BookBairn like the endpapers as much as the story!

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  10. ooh this looks like a great book. I have not heard of this one before. I will have to look for it in the library! Thanks for linking up to #KLTR .

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    1. It's a lovely story! And not too long if like us you read several before bedtime!

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