Flight School

February 17, 2014
Some are born to run; little Penguin believes he was “hatched to fly.” That’s why he’s come all the way from the South Pole (via a bright red motorboat) to attend a tropical shoreline flight school run for birds by birds. “I have the soul of an eagle,” he announces to the skeptical staff. Penguin soon discovers that zoology is destiny, no matter how nifty his red aviator goggles or how eager his new friends are to help get him aloft, which they manage to do, albeit momentarily, thanks to some engineering worthy of MacGyver. Up until the very final pages—in which Penguin returns to the flight school accompanied by a much larger friend whose aerodynamic potential is similarly problematic—the action has the tight comic pacing of a classic cartoon, one with heart to match Penguin’s own. Judge (Red Hat), working in watercolor and pencil, takes her hero into the sun-bleached sky and into the drink (oops) with aplomb, while her finely delineated feathered cast does its endearing best to ignore the obvious. Agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. Ages 4–8.

February 15, 2014
A small round penguin with lofty aspirations finds success of a sort in a sweet, if slight, appreciation of the resourcefulness of teachers. The sign near a cluster of wooden pilings in the middle of the water reads "FLIGHT SCHOOL / WE TEACH BIRDS TO FLY." "I was hatched to fly," announces Penguin upon his arrival from the South Pole. "I have the soul of an eagle," he assures the gently dubious Teacher. "Penguin and the other birdies practiced for weeks," but he succeeds only in plunging into the ocean--not terribly gracefully. He is ready to give up when a solution devised by Teacher and Flamingo has Penguin flying, if only for a few moments, and his happiness at this one-time achievement is lasting. Judge's edge-to-edge watercolor-and-pencil art is lively and amusing. Her various sea and shore birds--gulls, a pelican, a heron and a small owl among them--and their fledglings are just a little scruffy, and they are exaggeratedly, expressively funny in their anthropomorphic roles as teachers and students. Background shades of warm yellow, sea blue and green, and brown sand let the friendly, silly faces and bodies of the birds take center stage. Though Penguin doesn't discover any of his own true talents, young listeners will probably empathize with wanting something so far out of reach. (Picture book. 3-5)

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Starred review from March 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-Little Penguin, who has the self-proclaimed "soul of an eagle," wants to fly. Steering his motorboat into a dockside flight school for birds, he announces to the other feathery students and teacher that "[he] was hatched to fly." Teacher and Flamingo are unconvinced, but they allow Little Penguin to take lessons anyway. Outfitted with goofy red googles, Little Penguin certainly has the will, if not the talent. Even after practicing for weeks and enthusiastically jumping off the dock with a loud "Geronimo!" he still flops deep into the ocean instead of soaring above. Brokenhearted, he sets sail for home. But then Flamingo has an idea. Tying feathers and a fishing line onto Little Penguin, Flamingo helps lift him skyward while Little Penguin does his best to "Flip, flap, flip, flap, flap." Soon, he soars as he had always dreamed of doing. Alas, it doesn't last. Unfortunately, even with the soul of an eagle, "he still has the body of a little round penguin." Nevertheless, his dream achieved, Little Penguin leaves flight school one happy little bird. So happy, in fact, that he soon returns with another friend with his own dreams of flying-an ostrich with the "soul of a swallow." Judge successfully balances the humor in the storytelling, the drawings, and the situations. Rendered in watercolor and pencil and situated on a bright yellow background, the illustrations perfectly fit this delightful and charming book.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2014
Grades K-2 A portly little penguin in bright-red flight goggles believes he has the soul of an eagle, so he sets out to learn to fly. The teacher at flight school (a pink flamingo) kindly includes him in the flapping lessons, but when it comes time for his first liftoff, he instead plunges with a great Gablub! into the sea. Penguins just aren't built to fly, says the teacher. But the flamingo pities poor Penguin, and soon the chubby flightless bird is trussed up with a fishing-line harness and hitched to the flamingo for his very first flight. Satisfied by finally fulfilling his dream of flying, the penguin happily heads home only to return later with a much-larger, similarly flightless bird friend. Judge (Bird Talk, 2012) is well known for her lifelike watercolor-and-pencil illustrations of animals of all kinds, and she uses similarly realistic detail when rendering the birds here, though these creatures have charmingly cartoonish personalities befitting the offbeat story. Little ones who struggle to meet their goals will delight in persevering Penguin.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)