Penguin and Pumpkin by Salina Yoon

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Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408858370
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Penguins, Animals, Friendship, Seasons. For an introduction to the seasons, particularly autumn, this book is a treat, as Penguin, seen in three other books by Yoon,  Penguin and Pinecone, Penguin on holiday and Penguin in love, grapples with the idea of autumn. It is autumn, but living on the ice means it is just the same as ay other time - white. Penguin is curious to see what autumn is really like. He asks some friends to come with him on his adventure to find out about autumn but has to tell his baby brother, Pumpkin, that he must stay home.
The penguins all collect a pumpkin to take home and a box of autumn leaves. When they arrive home, Pumpkin has had his own adventures imagining what autumn is like, and Penguin and his friends use the leaves to make it snow autumn.
The idea of autumn is shown throughout the story as the penguins make their way to a place of green with trees, leaves and pumpkins. The colours have changed from the colours known by the penguins, and the readers will be able to see the colours and changes made by autumn. For an introduction to the seasons, or a story about siblings or friendship or making your own fun, this book with its bold outlined colour filled pages has a place in the classroom.
Fran Knight

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