Penguins Ready to Go, Go, Go! provides a young audience with a well thought out, rhythmic piece about emperor penguins. Its tone carries an echo of other popular children’s book and elicits a nostalgia for old Dr. Seuss stories such as One Fish, Two Fish and Go, Dog, Go! What sets this book apart from its more common counterparts, however, is its expertly woven educational capacity. Author Deborah Lee Rose, who has written 18 other children’s books and has won 5 national STEM children’s book awards, crafts a digestible look into the life of a penguin, from hunting for food and avoiding predators to staying warm on the cold and harsh ice of the Antarctic.
Students will find themselves learning and remembering penguin facts through the rhythm and catchiness of this book as they’re taken on the journey of a “day-in-the-life” like look at the ice-dwelling bird. Beautiful photographs of penguins adorn the pages, depicting an existence that appears both challenging and joyful. The photos truly make the reader feel like they are swimming or waddling or sliding alongside of the penguins!
Though the centerpiece of this work is a children’s book, Rose also includes more details and scientific facts for children, parents, and educators to use and learn from. The second half of the book is more thorough, discussing how scientists study penguins, how penguins hatch and care for their young, and advanced adaptations that penguins have to live and survive in their harsh environment. Despite the more advanced nature of this second half, the wording remains pleasantly devoid of jargon and succinctly touches on cornerstone concepts in conservation science in a manner that is both beneficial and accessible to children and other non-experts. I even found a few things that I did not know!
The bonus sections of this book include further information about penguins and a section entitled “Scientists at Work” summarizes some of the cool and exciting work that scientists in the field are involved in, which may inspire young learners to become conservation scientists! Another section, a short spread from Fabienne Durand entitled “Protecting Emperor Penguins”, discusses the plight of the recognizable representative of the frozen continent and how human actions, from tourism to greenhouse gas emissions, are impacting penguin habitats. The short piece from Durand also provides insights as to how we might protect their habitats in the future!
I greatly enjoyed this book and believe that young learners will too. Deborah Lee Rose has crafted a piece that is both catchy and educational and will be best for young elementary schoolers. I might even suggest this book as a tool for teaching reading skills. There is also a free educational guide here, which includes additional facts (and linked NGSS standards!) and activities.
Penguins Ready to Go, Go, Go! (hardcover) is published by Persnickety Press and is available online.
Competing Interests
The author has no competing interests to declare.