Penguin (book)

Last updated
Penguin
Penguin (Dunbar book).jpg
Author Polly Dunbar
IllustratorPolly Dunbar
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's
Publisher Walker Books
Publication date
4 June 2007
Pagesunpaginated (32)
ISBN 978-1-84428-065-0
OCLC 85691861

Penguin is a 2007 award-winning children's picture book by Polly Dunbar. It is about a boy who receives a penguin as a present and how they interact.

Contents

Reception

Penguin has been favourably reviewed, with Kirkus Reviews writing: "Visually, Ben’s contortions and Lion’s aplomb hearken back to early Sendak. While it’s at first unclear whether the immutable Penguin is a stuffed toy, a pet or something else entirely, kids will know—by story’s end at the very latest—that this bird’s a friend. An attractively designed, child-appealing package.". [1] Publishers Weekly found Dunbar’s "winsome mixed media illustrations carry the day in a story that pulls a few punches on readers", [2] while Common Sense Media described it as a "charming, whimsical boy-meets-bird tale." [3]

Penguin has been translated into many different languages. It has stood the test of time, with Walker Books publishing a 10th anniversary edition in 2017. [4]

Awards

Penguin won the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Silver Award, [5] the Red House Children's Book Award for Younger Children [6] and a Booktrust Early Years Award. [7] It was also shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal, [8] and was selected by The Sunday Times as one of the best books of 2007 for children 0 to 3 year olds. [9]

Adaption

Penguin has been adapted for the stage, has played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival [10] and received positive reviews. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

The Carnegie Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). CILIP calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Almond</span> British childrens writer (born 1951)

David Almond is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Riddell</span> Illustrator

Chris Riddell is a South African-born English illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the Observer. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals - the British librarians' annual award for the best-illustrated children's book, and two of his works were commended runners-up, a distinction dropped after 2002.

Debi Gliori is a Scottish writer and illustrator of children's books.


Jane Ray is an English illustrator of more than 70 children's books. The first book Jane illustrated A Balloon for Grandad written by Nigel Gray, is included in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. She is the writer and illustrator of some including Can You Catch a Mermaid?, Ahmed and the Feather Girl, and The Elephants Garden. She won the 1992 Nestlé Children's Book Prize in the 6- to 8-year-old readers category for the Story of the Creation, published by Orchard Books, and has been shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal several times. She was also a nominee for the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava 2017.

Janet Ahlberg and Allan Ahlberg were a British married couple who created many children's books, including picture books that regularly appear at the top of "most popular" lists for public libraries. They worked together for 20 years until Janet's death from cancer in 1994. He wrote the books and she illustrated them. Allan Ahlberg has also written dozens of books with other illustrators.

<i>Lost and Found</i> (book)

Lost and Found is a children's picture book by Oliver Jeffers, published in 2005. It won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Award and was the Blue Peter Book of the Year.

Sean Taylor is a British author of children's books. He was born in 1965 and grew up in Surrey, England, he taught in Zimbabwe before studying at Cambridge. He currently divides his time between the United Kingdom and Brazil, where his wife is from.

Helen Gillian Oxenbury is an English illustrator and writer of children's picture books. She lives in North London. She has twice won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal, the British librarians' award for illustration and been runner-up four times. For the 50th anniversary of that Medal (1955–2005) her 1999 illustrated edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was named one of the top ten winning works.

Emily Gravett is an English author and illustrator of children's picture books. For her debut book Wolves published in 2005 and Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears published three years later, she won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal recognising the year's best-illustrated British children's book.

Polly Dunbar is an English author-illustrator.

<i>Dogger</i> (book)

Dogger is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes, published by The Bodley Head in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Ness</span> American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter

Patrick Ness is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including the Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls.

Russell Ayto is an English illustrator of children's books including many picture books.

Catherine Rayner is an Edinburgh-based British illustrator and writer of children's books. She was born in Harrogate in 1982, and grew up in Boston Spa, later studying at Leeds College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Vere</span>

Ed Vere is a British writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the Highland Children's Book Award in 2007 for his book, The Getaway and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing his 2008 picture book Banana. His third book, Mr. Big was chosen by Booktrust as the official Booktime book for 2009 and was subsequently distributed to 750,000 British schoolchildren making it the largest single print run of a picture book in the UK. In 2009, his fourth book, Chick won the Booktrust Early Years Award for Best Baby Book. His book Bedtime for Monsters was shortlisted for the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize. His 2018 book, How to Be a Lion, was nominated for the 2019 Kate Greenaway Medal and the 2019 Carnegie Medal.

<i>The Savage</i> (Almond novel)

The Savage is a 2008 graphic novel by David Almond. It is about a boy called Blue who, to cope with his father's death starts drawing and writing a comic book story about a wild boy living in the woods..

<i>Solomon Crocodile</i> 2011 picture book by Catherine Rayner

Solomon Crocodile is a 2011 picture book by Catherine Rayner. It is about a mischievous crocodile called Solomon who wants to play with various birds and animals but just annoys them until he finally meets another playful crocodile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eoin Mclaughlin</span> Irish childrens writer

Eoin McLaughlin is a bestselling Irish children's writer. His books have been translated into over 25 languages and described by The Times as "an important historic record of the time".

<i>Open Very Carefully</i> Childrens picture book by Nick Bromley and Nicola OByrne.

Open Very Carefully: A Book With Bite! is a 2013 children's picture book by Nick Bromley and illustrated by Nicola O'Byrne. It is about a crocodile that disrupts a narrator's reading of The Ugly Duckling.

References

  1. "Penguin". www.kirkusreviews.com. Kirkus Media LLC. 15 June 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  2. "Penguin". www.publishersweekly.com. PWxyz LLC. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  3. "Penguin". www.commonsensemedia.org. Common Sense Media Inc. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  4. "Walker Books - Penguin: 10th Anniversary edition" . Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  5. Nestlé Children's Book Prize Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Red House Children's Book Award
  7. Booktrust Early Years Awards
  8. The CILIP Carnegie Medal & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards
  9. The Sunday Times best books of 2007: children from The Sunday Times
  10. "Penguin brings interactive puppetry to the Fringe". www.edinburghfestival.list.co.uk. The List Ltd. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  11. "Long Nose Puppets present Penguin". www.dlwp.com. de la warr pavilion. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  12. Laura Gooch (23 December 2014). "Penguin, Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton, until Sunday, January 4, call ..." The Argus. Retrieved 14 September 2015.