The Picturebook Shelf

Little Blue Penguin
Patricia L. Atchison, author
Jo-Anne Jagers, illustrator
Wood Lily Publishers
Box 457, Water Valley, Alberta, Canada T0M 2E0
9780978336912, $17.95 www.woodlilypublishers.com

Little Blue Penguin is a children's picturebook featuring simple illustrations that reinforce the primary colors introduced in the joyful story about a stuffed penguin much beloved by its little girl owner. Little Blue Penguin shines different colors when he feels different emotions - excitement (orange), love (pink), fear (white) and so on. During a trip to the zoo, the girl loses her Little Blue Penguin and he must spend some time in a scary lost-and-found box - but at last she finds him again. "Little Blue Penguin loved his home. He loved Becky. He loved to shine. What a sight it was! Outside it looked like every colour of the rainbow lit up the night sky." As an extra bonus, a photograph on the back cover shows what real little blue penguins look like (these small blue penguins are a species known as 'fairy penguins' that live in Sub-Antarctic regions south of New Zealand). A charming and delightful picturebook especially recommended for young penguin lovers.