Penguin's Big Adventure

PreS-Gr 2—Yoon's latest entry in her series has the protagonist setting a goal—to be the first penguin at the North Pole. Map in hand, pack on back, and his neck cozied with his signature orange scarf, Penguin sets off, but not before Yoon hints at the surprise ending by showing his penguin friends busy sewing, weaving, and braiding toward their own world records. As he makes his way north, Penguin enjoys visits with characters from his previous books and finally arrives at the top of the world. But after the initial excitement of meeting his goal, he finds the North Pole desolate and lonely, and with the appearance of a polar bear, maybe even dangerous. Their first anxious meeting becomes a sweet friendship until Penguin's busy friends appear to bring him home in a hot air balloon…the fruit of their earlier labors. The Photoshop drawings resemble woodcuts, outlined in heavy black and brightly colored. Yoon manages to create visual dynamism despite the illustrations' static simplicity by changing the page layouts to include spreads with horizon lines, framed tableaux, sequenced action, and thought bubbles. The simple narrative offers an opportunity for prediction and allows for text-to-self connections at a very basic level.