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Feb 07, 2012

Sheeba rated it:

This wonderful book is an amazing way to help children understand that being different is alright.Tacky was odd but he was a good bird. He helped get rid of the hunters and saved his friends. Today we have children from different cultures and traditions in our classrooms. Children might find other children odd. This book would be a great way to start a discussion about diversity and multiculturalism in early childhood classrooms. It can also help children understand their own feelings about othe More...

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Feb 07, 2012

Kristy rated it:

Tacky the Penguin had a great message that even though you are different it does not mean that there is something wrong with you. Tacky was different than his orderly companions but he was able to save the day when hunters tried to capture them. Tacky was charming, funny and witty and he was his own "penguin" but still garnered love from the other penguins because he was able to use his uniqueness to keep them from being captured. Tacky is an older book published in 1988 but it's story More...

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Oct 03, 2011

Sarah rated it:

Helen Lester's "Tacky the Penguin" tells the story of Tacky, a penguin who seems to always do things a little differently from the other, seemingly perfect, proper penguins. Tacky is always ostracized because he doesn't march, dive, or sing in the usual manner. But one day, when hunters come to hunt the penguins, Tacky doesn't hide like his peers, rather he shows the hunters his unconventional, "tacky" ways. When he begins to sing his crazy song, "How Many Toes Does a More...

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Sep 27, 2011

Traci rated it:

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester tells the story of Tacky, a very different penguin than his friends. His friends are named Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect. It's obvious right away just by his name that Tacky doesn't fit in. As you read about Tacky, he does everything different than the other penguins. They dive gracefully, but Tacky cannon balls in. They march in step, and Tacky is all over the place. One day though, hunters come to where the penguins live looking to trap them More...

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Sep 27, 2011

Nicole rated it:

I adore Tacky! Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger’s entertaining collaboration of text and illustrations have brought to life a memorable character that children and adults can laugh with and identify with. Tacky the Penguin epitomizes the free spirit and oddball in all of us. From the front cover illustration with Tacky hunched over wearing a mismatched flower shirt and blue gingham tie, to the back cover where Tacky is giving us that mischievous grin, I smiled all the way through this book.
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Jan 31, 2011

David rated it:

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, is the first of a series of books about Tacky (a nonconformist) and his graceful, well-behaved companions: Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect. TAcky's behavior, loud Hawaiian shirts, loud singing, & splashy cannonball dives initially puts off his companions. But when the hunters arrive, it's Tacky's antics that save the day.

This is ome of my favorite funny read-alouds. Kids enjoy the loud, slightly obnoxious be More...

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Aug 26, 2009

Abigail rated it:

Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect - as the reader might have intuited from their names - were the sort of well-groomed penguins who marched in time. The sort who were graceful divers, sweet singers, and always greeted each other politely. Tacky was a different kind of penguin - a distinctly odd kind. He liked loud shirts, loud greetings, and loud (splashy) cannonballs; and although they were far too polite to comment, his companions looked askance at his many shenanigans. And then one d More...

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Nov 11, 2009

Carol rated it:

Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

PK-3

Lynn Munsinger illustrates this amusing book with light, airy illustrations that match the mood of the text. The illustrations are presented in varying formats to give clues to the text. For example, one series of pages about Tacky’s “perfect” companions are neatly framed with black borders; when it comes to describe Tacky, his antics break through the border. The organization of smaller pictures uses neat predictable patterns to describ More...

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Aug 29, 2011

Lindsay rated it:

I absolutely love reading this book to my second graders! Not only is this book entertaining and funny, but it also provides a message or moral at the end of the story. This story reminds me of a more "Kooky" version of Kevin Henke's Chrysanthemum or Chester's way, which all have simple, repetitive text and a theme surrounding personal identity and accepting and embracing individual differences. In addition to it's silly plot and easy to follow text, Tacky the Penguin also offers rich More...

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Jan 02, 2012

Cheryl in CC NV rated it:

A little simplistic, even cliched, for avid readers. But so cute. And the message does bear repeating, even if people like Leo Leonni and many others have shared it before. I found it funny, and I'd be willing to bet children would find it even more so.

I was a bit disturbed by the bad science, but since the animals all wear (at least some) clothes it's clearly a fantasy and so I can tell myself not to fret about it.

Overall, I personally felt it was more like a 3.5 sta More...

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Nov 17, 2010

Jess rated it:

Tacky is an odd bird.

Yeah, I just don't dig it. Perhaps that's why none of the kindergarteners this year and last seemed to dig it either. Can you sense ambivalence? I tried it last year when I was trying to build my kindergarten readaloud list (so many places recommend it) and it bombed a bit. Same thing happened this year. Yes, I put energy into my reading.

Tacky's an interesting characters, one with lots of promise. However, I didn't find the book funny. More...

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Oct 26, 2010

N_Colleen rated it:

Tacky the Penguin is a great book to read aloud but is even better to listen to on CD. This is great for ages 4-8 and the illustrations capture the mood of each penguin in a whimsical and colorful way. Helen Lester does a great job bringing Tacky, a loud odd penguin to life. Tacky lives with a group of five formal and proper penguins but Tacky is nothing like them. His antics confuse his friends until one day they hear a thump…thump…thump. In this book you will find out how a loud, odd penguin s More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 02, 2008

Heather rated it:

If you read it in a crazy voice children will fall in love with this book. Last year's class would sing "How many toes does a fish have?" at recess. Go figure.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 30, 2011

Meghan rated it:

I always enjoy reading Tack the Penguin. "Tacky is an odd bird" indeed and I think that is what makes him wonderful. He lives on an iceberg with his 5 nearly perfect friends and he is aleays doing the wrong thing. I have always been a big advocate for different characters that become unlikely heroes, and I feel that Tacky is just that. I think that this story is the best way to teach children of all ages to just be yourself.

The illustrations are wonderful and I feel that they More...

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Jul 01, 2011

Marita rated it:

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, p1988, c1988
ISBN-13: 978-0-395-45536-4

Genre: Fiction, Picture Book
Interest Level: K-3
Reading Level: 3.3

Penguins Fiction.
Individuality Fiction.
Behavior Fiction.

Illustrator: Munsinger, Lynn

Tacky is an odd bird but a nice one to have around. Importance of being yourself. Hysterical illustrations. Teaching reminder: active while "marching" to numbers, sing TOTALLY OFF KEY when reading th More...

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Apr 03, 2009

Connie rated it:

The message "it's okay to be different" is a popular one in the world of picture books. Unfortunately, it's usually paired with vivid examples of people harassing the different person - comes a point in Rudolph, for example, where I wonder why the red-nosed reindeer agreed to help any of them!

Tacky manages to avoid that. Tacky is different from the other penguins, and doesn't fit in, but they don't go out of their way to make him feel bad for that. And then, of course, his More...

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Sep 02, 2010

Christy rated it:

I thought this was a nice book. I liked that Tacky danced to the beat of his own drum. I find that people have a hard time in doing this. I liked how his personality came through in his actions. I also liked that in the end it was Tacky that saved the day and the others were grateful for what he did. It shows that everyone has a special quality and it just takes the right time for it to come to light for others to see it. I really just like penguins in general so pretty much any story abo More...

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Sep 27, 2011

Katie added it

Tacky the Penguin is a great story that shows how being an individual has it’s ups and downs. The illustrations are a combination of colorful watercolor full bleed and bordered images. Sometimes it seems as if Tacky is going to leap off the page (when he is doing his original march). Many people can identify with how it feels to go against the crowd in order to be yourself. Tacky is a fun way to present these challenges and, in the end, benefits of not conforming.

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Sep 03, 2009

Lisa rated it:

This is a mildly funny and sweet story about an unconventional penguin and his conformist peers.

For me, the names of all the penguins were the most amusing part of the book.

This book has some good messages: that being odd or different and being your own person can be a huge positive, and that it’s worth it to make friends with those who might, on the surface, seem weird in any way. It could make a great read aloud book for groups of children to discourage them from ostrac More...

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Aug 26, 2011

Kelly rated it:

LOVED IT!
Read it to my brand new second graders this first week of school and they loved it also Of course I love that Tacky gets to be the hero, but what I found most enjoyable was imagining how he would have sounded when he slapped others on the back to say hello. My copy came with a CD and I am debating whether to let my students listen.... Really, I just don't want to disappoint MYSELF if the reader makes Tacky sound different than I have imagined.

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Jan 09, 2012

Amy rated it:

Tacky is a penguin that just doesn’t seem to fit in with his friends, Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect. His friends like to dive gracefully into the arctic waters. Tacky does cannonballs while wearing an inner tube. Tacky’s friends try to ignore his odd habits until the day a group of furry hunters happen upon the penguins.

Full Review Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2012...

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Mar 06, 2011

Angelene rated it:

This is currently my nephew's second-favorite book (behind Where the Wild Things Are. He loves the hunters. When I taught gifted elementary students, I used this book a lot to talk about appropriate behavior. We would compare and contrast the behavior of Tacky and the other penguins, detailing the good things about each. Sometimes, to get them in the appropriate frame of mind, I would ask, "What kind of penguin should you be right now?"

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Jan 13, 2011

Brenda rated it:

I first listened to this as a read aloud by the school librarian to a group of second graders and later grabbed the book to look at the illustrations and text. It was a really cute story about Tacky who was quite "odd" not wanting to do all the other things that penguins do. He wasn't walking in the straight lines, singing the right songs but Tacky was being himself. The class seemed to really enjoy the story as well.

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Nov 21, 2011

Samantha rated it:

Its been so long since I read this book. I remember in elementary school, we were doing a bunch of penguin projects and our teacher read us this book.

Even after all this time, Tacky and his oddness still bring a huge smile to my face and a laugh to my lips. This story just goes to show that everyone is amazing, no matter how odd they may be.(unless they're penguin hunters) =)

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Jan 09, 2012

Emily rated it:

I thought this book was really good, and would be a very good choice for an urban classroom. It teaches that being different is okay, and that most of the time those who "march to the beat of their own drum" come out at the top in some way. I thought the pictures fit really well with the story and I would definitely consider putting this in my potential classroom library.

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Sep 07, 2011

Mari rated it:

I love children's books, but my sons Allan (20) and Bruce (16)never wanted to read this book; it was very popular with the little girls in preschool and Kindergarten. Personally, I had not read it until this class and it was a clever, rhyming book that was humorous with a nice message about frienship and acceptance. Good solid reading for kids!

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Jun 22, 2009

Carolyn rated it:

This was our introduction to Helen Lester books, and we were immediately addicted. While there are other "Tacky" books, this is by far our favorite one.

In this book, Tacky is a very different penguin from his very proper companions, but when his tacky-ness saves them all, they realize that he is a "nice bird to have around."

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Jan 19, 2012

Season rated it:

Tacky is not your typical kind of penguin. He dresses and acts differently from his penguin friends who are not very nice to him. However, when danger comes to their penguin home, Tacky steps up and protects his friends. This is a great book to teach theme: always believing in yourself and not letting others change you.

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Dec 16, 2011

Lindsay rated it:

I thought that the Spanish translation was quite good minus some words here and there. In English or Spanish, it's a really cute story. I recently did this story for a snow and ice theme for Spanish story time (Dec. 15, 2011). I also did the English version for the respective bilingual story time program (Dec. 17, 2011).

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Oct 30, 2011

Maggie rated it:

Tacky was an odd bird. It is a simple truth. My family has gotten a lot out of this book, and I believe it is the best out of all of the Tacky books. The best part is sometimes if I just do something random, my parents will look at me for a moment and say, "Tacky was an odd bird." Very good book.

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