Little Penguin's New Friend by Tadgh Bentley

Amy Laughlin works as a youth services librarian at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, CT. She served on the Notable Children's Books committee in 2017 and 2018, and co-wrote a column for School Library Journal from 2014-2018 titled "Mix it Up."

Cover of Little
Penguin’s New Friend
by Tadgh Bentley

Adorable Little Penguin teaches readers a valuable lesson about gossip in this cautionary tale about believing everything you hear.

Little Penguin immediately breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader directly—“Oh! Hi! Sorry! I did not see you there”—setting the jovial, conversational tone of the book from the very start. All the usual hallmarks of a stand out beginning reader are here: large font, plenty of white space, clear contrast between text and background, and predictive vocabulary that matches the illustrations.

Image from Little Penguin’s New Friend

Readers hear from Little Penguin that a polar bear is traveling all the way from the North Pole to visit the South Pole. He also learns many details about Polar Bears from his friends, including the fact that they have sharp teeth and terrifying roars, they are mean hunters, and they tell very bad jokes. But should we always believe everything that we hear?

When Polar Bear arrives (by boat), she immediately tells Little Penguin a series of bad jokes. Does this mean that all three facts Little Penguin learned about Polar Bears are true? Should Little Penguin be scared for his life?! Instead of laughing at Polar Bear’s humorous jokes, Little Penguin dives behind a rock in fear! Is Polar Bear going to eat him?

Image from Little Penguin’s New Friend

Imagine Little Penguin’s surprise when he learns that Polar Bear has heard something untrue about penguins. The final line of the book, effectively the punchline of a 32-page gag, reads: “I heard that penguins have no sense of humor,” she [Polar Bear] says.” Cue the ba-dum-cha sound on the drums.
Repeated readings of the book reveal a layer of added meta-humor that most books for emergent readers lack, that of the irony that both Polar Bear and Little Penguin believed untrue facts about each other. This irony delivers readers a satisfying chuckle at the end that boosts readers’ confidence—it’s a joke meant to make them laugh without any explanation needed.

Could a book that—more or less—describes the perils of believing gossip become a Geisel honoree? I say absolutely this might win a Geisel!

(Psssst: don’t forget that we shouldn’t always believe everything you hear!)