22. How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior

listened on Libby

355 pgs.

2020
Adult CRF
Finished 5/7/2025
Goodreads rating:  4.09
My rating: 5
Setting: Lockett Island, Antarctica

My comments:  Delightful, charming, and funny....with an edge. Just what I needed. Loved it!  An 85 year-old travels by herself to Antarctica to learn about the penguins that live there, despite the objections of the small scientific crew that work there.  Told in three voices, that of Veronica, her newly found grandson, Patrick, and the podcast of Terry the yound femald scientist who lives at the station on Lockett Island.  I loved the story.

Goodreads synopsis:  A curmudgeonly but charming old woman, her estranged grandson, and a colony of penguins proves it's never too late to be the person you want to be in this rich, heartwarming story from the acclaimed author of Ellie and the Harpmaker.

Eighty-five-year-old Veronica McCreedy is estranged from her family and wants to find a worthwhile cause to leave her fortune to. When she sees a documentary about penguins being studied in Antarctica, she tells the scientists she’s coming to visit—and won’t take no for an answer. Shortly after arriving, she convinces the reluctant team to rescue an orphaned baby penguin. He becomes part of life at the base, and Veronica's closed heart starts to open.

Her grandson, Patrick, comes to Antarctica to make one last attempt to get to know his grandmother. Together, Veronica, Patrick, and even the scientists learn what family, love, and connection are all about.

Picture Book - 365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental

Illustrated by Joelle Jolivet
Endpapers:  N/A - HUGE BOOK

2006 Harry N. Abrams, translated from French

44 huge, thick pages

Illustrations in Black, white, blue, and orange

Goodreads rating:   4.11 - 914 ratings

My rating:  5!

1^st line/s:  "On New Year's Day, at nine o'clock in the morning, a delivery man rang our doorbell."

My comments:  Loved this book.  But, it's HUGE.  Not sure how I'm going to read it aloud! One penguin arrives each and every day for 365 straight days.  Lots of arithmetic and a few vocabulary words for younger readers (anonymous, three-digit-number, ecologist), one page where you hunt among the penguins for the only one with blue feet, and even a great poem:

    Penguins, penguins everywhere,

    Black and white and in my hair,

    Two or three would be quite nice,

    But hundreds more, let's think twice!

    Bathroom, bedroom, closet, kitchen --

    I've had enough, it's time to ditch 'em!

Goodreads:  From the amazing success of the documentary March of the Penguins to the popular penguins in Madagascar to this fall’s upcoming penguin-themed movie Happy Feet, penguins are everywhere! That’s especially true for the family in 365 Penguins, who find a penguin mysteriously delivered to their door every day for a year. At first they’re cute, but with every passing day, the penguins pile up—along with the family’s problems. Feeding, cleaning, and housing the penguins becomes a monumental task. They’re noisy and smelly, and they always hog the bathroom! And who on earth is sending these kwaking critters? In a large format, and with lots of opportunity for counting, 365 Penguins is sure to become a perennial wintertime favorite.

Penguin Lesson Plan

My favorite animal:  PENGUINS

        (Have kids think about what their favorite animal might be.  Have them write it down on a slip of paper and drop into a bowl.  Tell them I'll draw a slip from the bowl and next month I'll spend a day talking about the favorite animal that I drew.)

Teaching a week about PENGUINS in the library.

1 -  I'll read a penguin poem.

2 - I'll share my penguin postcard and stuffed animal collections.  I'll show them a bucket of fiction and nonfiction books, and we'll talk about the differences.

3 -  I'll read aloud a nonfiction book about penguins.  Kids will retell facts/interesting stuff they remember from the reading.

4 - Read aloud a fiction book.  

               (When talking about fiction, make sure to discuss ANTHROPOMORPHISM, especially with older grades.)

Here's a great FREE blog that includes lesson ideas, games, and lots of videos:  http://embracinghome.com/penguin-lesson-plans-facts/

childfun.com/themes/animals/penguins

marcias-lesson-links.com/penguincapers.html

YouTubes:

Kids Academy:  Penguins for Kids (4:22)

SciShoKids!:  Meet 3 Peculiar Penguins

All Things Animal:  Animals for Kids:  Penguins (6:39)

Word search puzzle:  Antarctic, bird, southern, hemisphere, swim, waddle, don't fly, eat fish, South Pole, Emperor, Rockhopper, Gentoo, King, Macaroni, African,, Little

What do you call a group of penguins?

    a RAFT of penguins when they're in the water

    a WADDLE of penguins if they're on land

SPS books:

E ABR Pelonius Penguin

E BRE  A Wish for Wings That Work

E JEF Lost and Found

E JEF Up and Down

E LES Tacky the Penguin

E LES Three Cheers for Tacky

E MIN If You Were a Penguin (Pre-K, super simple) facts at end, 2009 PA One Book, Every Young Child

E ODO Pinkie Leaves Home

E PAC (Baskets) The Christmas Penguin

E WOO The Little Penguin

FE MSB #8 PB Penguin Puzzle (Magic Schoolbus)

FE OSB MTH #40 Eve of the Emperor

F ATW Mr. Popper's Penguins

F STR PB Is That an Angry Penguin in Your Gym Bag?

E 080 FDP #3 Penguins

E 590.1 AHS #8 PB Penguin in the Snow

E 598 ALS PB Penguins

E 598 POT HHS Penguin Moves Out of the Antarctic

E 598 WWW Why Why Why Can't Penguins Fly

E 793.KAF Surf's Up

E 598.1 NGS #25 Penguins & Polar Bears

E 598.47 Penguins - 100 Things

598.37 JAC March of the Penguins

598.4 ALL Penguin in the Snow (a 2nd copy?)

599.2 HAN Penguins

Other books that sound good:

I Can Read: Little Penguin's New Friend - 2019, Laura Driscoll

Perfectly Polite Penguins - 2019, Georgiana Deutsch

Penguin's Big Adventure - 2015 Yoon series

Penguins Don't Wear Sweaters! - 2018, Tamura

Spike, The Penguin with Rainbow Hair - 2021, Cullen & Ellis (paper) 

365 Penguins - Fromental & Jolivet ( apparently funny & lots of math) ordered

A Penguin Story - Portis

Penguin in Peril  - Helen Hancocks

The Emperor's Egg - Martin Jenkins

Flight School 0 Lita Judge

Penguins - Gail Gibbons  ordered

Penguin Problems - Jory John & Lane Smith - apparently has incorrect information (GoodReads reviews) that can be tackled in class!

Poem: Diary of a Very Short Winter Day by Judy Sierra

Diary of a Very Short Winter Day

At the first hint of dawn
I awake with a yawn
And follow my cousins
(All thirty-three dozen)
To the end of the land.
Where we stand and we stand,
Playing who'll-dive-in-first,
And, fearing the worst.
We listen for seals
Who want us for meals.
I see one penguin lunge.
Then in we all plunge,
Take a bath, gulp a snack,
And climb out in a pack...
Hurry back to our home
For a quick preen and comb
So our feathers aren't wet
As we watch the sun set.

           by Judy Sierra

PICTURE BOOK - Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers

Illustrated by the author

2010 Philomel Books

Still in print 8/18 - HC $17.99

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.07 - 2849 ratings

My rating: 4

Endpapers: florescent orange

1^st line/s:  "Once there were two friends....who always did everything together."

My comments:  This is, apparently, the fourth book Oliver Jeffers has written about "the boy."  It's a heartwarming story of friendship - between this boy and his penguin buddy - and the penguin's desire to try out flying.  Very cute, very Oliver Jeffers.  Must find others about "the boy!
1 - How to Catch a Star
2 - Lost and Found
3 - The Way Back Home

Goodreads:  From the illustrator of the #1 smash hit The Day the Crayons Quit comes a humorous, resonant tale about the value of shared experiences.
          A penguin has wings for a reason . . . doesn't he? Having a best friend with his own airplane is one thing, but actually experiencing what it feels like to fly by himself? Here is one penguin who believes this is precisely what he needs to feel complete. Only . . . if flying by himself is so wonderful, then why does he feel so empty?Because some experiences are better shared. (And penguins are much happier on the ground.)
          Oliver Jeffers delivers the perfect companion to his much-loved Lost and Found. Penguins everywhere will take flight in delight.

Penguin Poems

Emperor Penguins

Shuffle-shuffle.

That’s what emperor daddies do all winter long,

huddled in with a flock of other fathers,

each one shuffling with an egg balanced on his feet,

folded in a flap of skin to keep it warm ---

cuddled from the cold.

Shuffle-huddle, shuffle-huddle,

through dark and cruel cold,

through biting blizzards.

They are quiet heroes, waiting

for the peep peep of their hatching chick

and the voice of their mate, returning from the sea.

                By Nicola Davies

                From Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals

Also about Emperor Penguins:

The Flying Leap

Built

to swim

not too slim

we don’t fly

wouldn’t try

waddle stop

belly-flop, slip

slide toboggan

glide - icy dash ends

with SPLASH! Wings

are fins for twirls and

spins, we plunge

below

pack ice and snow for

fish for krill for squid until

we’ve fished our fill.  Our

young ones will be overjoyed

if we avoid becoming meals

for leopard seals lurking grim

at ice floe’s rim.  We know they’re there

we’re well aware so we prepare:  our feathers trap air.

When we release bubbles our

swimming speed DOUBLES!

We jet from the sea

predator-free

we catch air – wheeeee!

by Leslie Bulion
from Superlative Birds

Diary of a Very Short Winter Day

At the first hint of dawn

I awake with a yawn

And follow my cousins

(All thirty-three dozen)

To the end of the land,

Where we stand and we stand,

Playing who’ll-dive-in-first,

And, fearing the worst,

We listen for seals

Who want us for meals.

I see one penguin lunge,

Then in we all plunge,

Take a bath, gulp a snack,

And climb out in a pack….

Hurry back to our home

For a quick preen and comb

So our feathers aren’t wet

As we watch the sun set.

                By Judy Sierra

                From Antarctic Antics: A Book of Penguin Poems

                Based on the real lives of emperor penguins

MOVIE - Mr. Popper's Penguins

A surprising delight!
Released 6-17-11
PG (1:35) "Rude Humor"
Mon. 8-22-11 at Crossroads with Rachel
RT: 48% cag: 90%
Director:  Mark S. Waters
Jim Carrey
Created from the book by the Atwaters - but it doesn't resemble the book AT ALL....which is okay....

I enjoyed every minute of this movie.  It was funny and clever.  I haven't read the book in ages, but Rachel just finished it and mentioned some of the extreme differences.  Mr. Popper in the book was a house painter.  They lived in a small town called Stillwater.  In the movie Tom Popper is a wealthy businessman living in a high rise, two-floor, floor-to-ceiling-windowed penthouse in New York City.  He receives the penguins as an unwanted gift from his late father, who Popper had idolized as a child, but who was physically missing from the boy's life.  At first they are a ridiculous pain in the butt, but as they imprint on Popper, his feelings for them change....

His ex-wife and two children begin to see a new side to this previously driven businessman.  There's one scene in his apartment, which has been turned into a snow and ice-filled winter wonderland, that is totally fun and cool.  There are LOTS of parts of this movie that are fun and cool.  I'd watch it again.  I called it delightful before, and I'll stick with that.  I loved it....and I can't believe that I did!

Come Back Soon - Daniel Schallau

Houghton Mifflin, 2009
$17.00
48 pgs.
Rating: 4
Illustrations: colored pencils, pen & ink
Endpapers: Bright yellow

If you go through this story just reading the words it would seem disjointed and uneven. But if you examine each illustrations as you read, the story flows beautifully. I wonder if this is intentional, or happened because the writer and illustrator are the same person? I'd guess it wouldn't make a good readaloud to a group - much better alone or one to one.

Elephant the architect returns to Ice Island to be the special guest at the" PENGUIN DEDICATION". His friends, the penguins, meet him, wine him and dine him, and help him through several mishaps. The story is cute and the illustrations are marvelous - I wish the book were bigger so the pictures could be! There's SO much of the story in the pictures!

Give this as a gift to an inquisitve 4-year-old builder and include a scarf....