A Penguin Named Patience

November 17, 2014
In an uplifting true story, Patience, the oldest African penguin at the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans, tries to keep the other penguins safe during Hurricane Katrina. Finally, the penguin keeper arrives to transport the penguins to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where they stay for nine months before receiving a colorful reception when they arrive home. Lewis tends to anthropomorphize Patience (“In her cage, Patience was confused and worried. She was relieved to see the penguin keeper get on the plane, too”), and Anchin’s cartoons steer away from naturalism, giving the penguins recognizably mournful and gleeful reactions to events. Readers aren’t given much sense of the hurricane itself, so neither the stakes nor danger ever feel especially dire, but an author’s note offers additional background on both the disaster and the Audubon penguins. Ages 6–10. Illustrator’s agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media.