and the Phillip Island Penguin Parade

Penguin Australia

October 2023

• ISBN: 9781761341830
• Imprint: Puffin
• RRP: $24.99

Waddling along on a bit of a penguin theme, just look at this absolutely exquisite gem of a book! Follow Littlest Penguin as she is raised by her doting parents, leaves her burrow for the first time, makes friends, and embarks on her grown-up penguin adventures.

Littlest Penguin, Scruffy, Cheeky and Big Check are little penguin pals who go to sea together as newly-fledged adults. They encounter many tricky situations such as marauding sea hawks, plastic rubbish, boats and oil rigs but also learn how to feed and care for themselves and, of course, have fun swooping and diving through the waves.

When Littlest Penguin gets separated from her friends during a fierce storm she is very worried, especially as she cannot catch food being so tired, and getting weaker. But gradually she slowly makes her way back to her very own beach, where she hopes her friends, especially Scruffy, might be waiting for her.

Patiently she waits with other penguins for just the right moment in the surf, without any dangers above, to surge forward and march back up to the rookery. All around her is the clamour of many penguin voices “Huck! Huck!” as she searches the many burrows, until finally she hears the one voice she’s missed so desperately.

Scruffy is waiting for her, and shyly, he has started to prepare a burrow for the two of them. Awwwwww, a new little penguin family is on the way.

It is, honestly, just adorable from start to finish. At the end are pages of information about the little penguins of Phillip Island, the Penguin Foundation [did you know you can live stream the Penguin Parade?]and the author/illustrator. Jedda’s distinctive illustrations of these endearing animals will thoroughly delight all who see them. Check out Jedda’s Insta for some lovely photos that are backstory for the illustrations.

A little chapter book in a beautiful gift-sized binding with stunning glossy highlights, it is a book to treasure. With Christmas rapidly approaching I suggest that if you have a penguin aficionado in your circle (who doesn’t?) or Smalls who love animal stories, this would be a very valued present.

I didn’t get to Phillip Island on any of my Melbourne excursions, but The Kid and I did visit the penguin colony at Bicheno, Tasmania, and it was one of the highlights of our trip watching for these little guys to waddle back to their burrows, completely unconcerned about us standing around oooh-ing and aaah-ing.

This is so delightful, and I am so very fond of penguins myself, that it may well not leave my own shelves. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to you for either your own pleasure, your collection or as a special gift to someone you love.