The King Penguin

July 15, 2023
A king penguin embraces his nomenclature a bit too much. Percival Penguin sits upon an icy throne, with a cloak, staff, and crown. He is a king penguin, after all. It must be his duty to rule over the others. However, his list of royal decrees is selfish (except "Do not eat yellow snow." That's good advice for all), and he greedily gobbles more fish than anyone else. The other penguins soon revolt and banish Percival from the colony. Undeterred, Percival arrogantly declares that he just needs a new kingdom. However, all of the other creatures that he finds--seals, polar bears, walruses, and more--all have one trait in common: They want to eat Percival. (Yes, even the sardines.) That makes being their king rather difficult. Then Percival meets the only species of penguin that could make him reconsider his stance on authority--the emperor penguin. Percival suddenly sees names in a whole new light. Back at home, chaos reigns among the penguins, who all want to be in charge, but they all soon learn to work together for the good of the community. Humorous alliterative asides ("SALUTATIONS! My slippery subjects!"), quick quips ("So if I'm a macaroni penguin, does that make me pasta?"), and heavily anthropomorphized depictions of adorably squat penguins lift the mood of this whimsical tale that also has a sound message about the dangers of wielding power. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A positively plucky look at government from a penguin's perspective. (Picture book. 4-8)

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August 1, 2023

PreS-Gr 1-Percival Penguin is positive he's perfect in his presiding role over his penguin colony; he is a king penguin, after all. But when Percival's pals stop listening to him, he resolves to find other subjects to rule. In the end, Percival learns being in charge doesn't mean bossing everyone around and eating all the fish; he must learn to rule properly. This adorable and hilarious picture book uses bright watercolors and large, easy-to-read black text to tell the tale. The first page, with its individual pictures and names of different penguins that will appear in the book, helps distinguish the penguins from one another, allowing readers to see individuals beyond Percival. Alliteration abounds in the form of hard P's popping up all through the pages. Educators or caregivers reading to children will be laughing along with the silly jokes sprinkled into the illustrations between the text, and kids will enjoy the scrapes Percival finds himself in. VERDICT A joyful story hour read for fans of the classic Mr. Popper's Penguins, or for any child learning to sound out words. Percival and his pals will teach kiddos precisely how to rule.-Jessica Durham

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 4, 2023
In this comedic picture book, Roeder imagines a king penguin lording over penguin peers, based strictly on his royal appellation. Sporting a curled wig, scarlet robe, and gold crown, self-absorbed king penguin Percival soon offends chinstrap, macaroni, and rockhopper penguins with entitled conduct: pilfering others’ fish (“Taxes”), and appointing a snowperson as royal advisor. Cast off from the colony, Percival attempts to rule seals (“My slippery subjects!”) and other Antarctic critters who inevitably “tried to eat him.” Following a run-in with an emperor penguin, he waddles home to reconcile, slowly learning diplomacy. Never mind that penguin species live in distinct colonies—Roeder’s goofy acrylic and colored pencil romp doesn’t take species too seriously (“So if I’m a macaroni penguin does that make me pasta?” considers one bird. “I think I’m pasta”). Ages 3–5.