Well Done, Mummy Penguin
Chris Haughton
Walker Books

I’m a big fan of Chris Haughton’s animal picture books and immediately fell for the penguin family, especially Little Penguin.

As the story opens Daddy Penguin is explaining that Mummy is off searching for yummy fishy dinner for them all in the chilly waters of the Southern Ocean. She needs to swim very fast and dart at great speed – swoosh swish swoosh

and while she is so doing Little Penguin seeks reassurance that she will return safely. And so she does but to do so she has to jump, climb a slippery slope – cu-crunch cu-crunch cu-crunch and then tip-toe carefully past some slumbering seals – shh! – in case she wakes them.

Little Penguin is concerned to see that Mummy Penguin finds herself face to face with one now wide awake seal

and as a result has to perform an amazing leap. Fear not though for Mummy is unstoppable and Woo-hoo! she lands safe and sound with a tasty offering for her little one. Can you guess what he says having consumed his dinner with relish?

With beautiful Antarctic landscapes, this is a gorgeous celebration of mothers, be they penguins or other; I’m sure little humans will love following Mummy’s progress and joining in with the onomatopoeic words sprinkled throughout the telling.