About Penguins: A Guide for Children

About... A Guide for Children

by Cathryn Sill, Cathryn Sill

Describes the behaviors and habitats of penguins.

Genres: Animals, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Science

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Cathryn Sill, a graduate of Western Carolina University, was an elementary school teacher for thirty years. She lives in North Carolina.

When she was an elementary school teacher who loves nature. When she had trouble finding good natural history books for her kindergarten class, she decided to write them.

With her husband John as the illustrator, she has created two series of nonfiction books for children.

The ABOUT series is about different groups of animals and includes 16 books. She has just completed the eighth books in a series about habitats.

Reviews

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As it turns out I know next to nothing about penguins.

I'd assumed ice and snow. Antarctica. The thing is, only 2 varieties of penguin live there. The rest? Wow...New Zealand, Africa, South America...some even live in very hot climates. Never expected that.

I had known that father penguins cared for eggs, I didn't realize they would go up to 3-4 months without eating while doing so. I'm impressed.

So this series is teaching me a lot, when my intent was to teach my children a lot. Which is good, it makes me a better teacher. My daughter loves these books so I'm glad I took the time to track them down. Great series!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple text with great facts (1-2 sentences per page). Nice, clear illustrations with simple captions naming the animals in the illustrations.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. The Sills Rock!!

[Meghan VanDoorne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an informational children's book. It is applicable from Kindergarten through 2nd grade. It is unique because of it's beautiful and accurate illustrations. They depict the traits of the penguins beautifully and place a detailed glossary in the back.

[Tamara GTC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very kid friendly in the way it was written. It was all about how penguins lived, had babies etc. This reading is ideal if a student had to do a report on penguins.

[Dana Franklin]

This book shows how penguins survive on building things and how they adapt to what they are given when they need to.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

About Penguins is just that: about penguins. Each two page spread contains a picture that is as detailed as a photograph and a sentence about the picture. Each sentence is clearly written and is an interesting fact that kids want to know.

In the afterword to the book, the author expands upon the sentence and provides a paragraph of information about each picture.

Here are three pages of text from the book:
“Some penguins build nests on top of the ground.
Others dig burrows under the ground.
Others have no nest. They hold the egg and then the chick on their feet.”

Children’s comments:
This book was perfect for the children at my school, PreK to second grade. Even some of the kindergarteners could read it. The pictures were inviting. The subject matter is popular with this group as well. Everyone rated it very high, with all 5’s and 4’s.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction for young readers who want to learn more about penguins. The popularity of films like Happy Feet and March of the Penguins have increased the fascination with these animals, and About Penguins provides young readers with some easy-to-understand information about the different types of penguins, their habitats, behavior, and what we can do to protect them.

The illustrations in About Penguins are very detailed, and the explanations of each plate at the back of the book go a long way in giving readers a great deal of information about penguins. There is also a helpful glossary and recommended books and websites for those who wish to learn even more about penguins.

About Penguins is a great book for students in kindergarten through second grade, possibly even older readers, who are studying animals.

[Morgan Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information is very short and simple on each page. Only one or two lines of text on each page and a great picture to go along with the text. In the back of the book is an afterword that goes into more detail about each page giving more information on the topic. At the end of the book it gives me great accuracy in knowing the information is correct and up to date by seeing bibliography and the books used to help write this book and the web-sites where they retrieved there information. Again this is a great book for a young reader in the grades of first or second grade. When the author was writing this book he was giving very little information on penguins, but printing the most important information about this great animal.

[Bridget R. Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short text paired with realistic illustrations inform young readers and listeners about penguins, their habitats, and habits. More detailed information about penguins is at the end of the book.


What I thought: Another great penguin book! The brevity of the text makes it ideal for sharing with young children. I liked the illustration captions and the additional information at the end of the book. The captions will hep children identify the different species of penguins.


Story Time Theme: Penguins (Pair with If You Were a Penguin by Florence Minor)

[Brenda Quinones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Gives really good details about penguins. Where they live and all sorts of things. Keep children interested and wanting to know more.

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an adorably informative book on penguins, geared for young readers. I read it to a three year old and five year old and they both remained interested through to the end. Even I learned a little something new about penguins from this book!

Whether the child in your life is trying to learn about penguins for fun or for school, or you just want to get them excited for a trip to the zoo, this book is a really entertaining option.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of this series, but I like this one. The pictures are illustrated instead of photographs, but beautifully done. Each page has just one fact. It includes a glossary and additional websites. A great introduction to nonfiction for kindergarten or first grade. There are many other books in the About series, such as marsupials, birds, mollusks, and deserts.

[Zakiah Humaira · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're learning about Antartica and the animals living on it. This Penguin book is very simple allowing comprehension for preschoolers. The illustrations are gorgeous, but a bit small to discuss differences between Macaroni and Royal Penguin (we need other books to check on that!) but an excellent start for a research journey!

[April Moreland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great informational book about penguins that the children will love with beautiful illustrations. the end of it has a summary of the history of penguins so it is great for a teaching or homeschooling resource as well. An easy read for your 1st or 2nd grader.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very brief and basic introduction to penguins with a bit more info at the end of the book.

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful images, succinct informative text.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect nonfiction for beginning and transitional readers.

[Mollie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

very informative! So many penguins