by Polly Dunbar; illus. by the author

Candlewick Press, 2007

Image from Wikipedia

Ben’s new penguin is so disappointing: he won’t say anything!  In this wonderfully playful book, Ben does everything he can to get Penguin to speak; from tickling Penguin to strapping him to a rocket and sending him into space.  The stark white pages give lots of room for the text and simple illustrations to interact and take over, allowing Ben’s expressive antics to be the focus of the page.  Ben tries to feed Penguin to Lion, but the Lion is not interested; in fact, Lion eats Ben “for being too noisy”!  Dunbar uses a very effective zoom at the critical moment of the story, when Penguin must either stand up for Ben or let him remain lion food.  Ben learns that Penguin can express himself when he wants to, and that there is more than one way to communicate.  

(This review was originally submitted as part of my picture book overview for Materials for Children class)