Penguins, Penguins, Penguins

Penguins have been a hot topic in school this year. We’ve had the year two children designing and painting our own penguin as part of the Popup Penguins events. He was named after the very famous explorer and navigator Frank Worsley, who was dux of the school in the late 1800’s.

We also have had a couple of new penguin books added to our library.

Golden Eyes

The Yellow-eyed Penguin/Hoiho

By Kelly Lynch

This book is full of wonderful photographs of the yellow-eyed penguins/hoiho. They live at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand. The book focuses on two particular penguins, Golden Eyes and his mate Curio. Through a series of photos, we follow their everyday lives and activities. We also see the special moment when their baby penguin is born. It is lovely to see these beautiful birds up close and share their stories.

The year two children got to ask the author a few questions

Did you ever get bitten by a penguin?,

I have never been bitten by a Yellow-eyed penguin, thankfully.  They are shy and will avoid meeting people.

How many photos did you have to take to get the right ones?
It look a long time and I took oodles of photographs before I got the right ones.  Sometimes it was really windy, other times the penguins came back from the sea very late and the sun had just set, or they would waddle off in the opposite direction from where I was hiding. Other times I was very lucky and a penguin would stop and preen themselves just in the right stop.

Did you have to creep around silently when you took the photos so that you didn’t frighten them?

Yes I did creep around silently to get into a hiding place where I could get ready to see the penguins when they came in from the sea.  I had to make sure I was far enough away so they wouldn’t see me and I didn’t disturb them.

Did you like penguins when you were little?
When I was young I loved to watch birds in the garden, I still do! I didn’t know we had such interesting penguins in New Zealand until I was a bit older.

Thank you so much Kelly Lynch for sharing your thoughts with us.

A Little Blue

Written and Illustrated by Jeanette Goode

Simmy is sent to the West Coast to stay with his father while mum recovers from an illness. At first Simmy hates being where he is as it is so remote they don’t even have the internet. He writes regular letters to his mum begging to be allowed to come home. However, things start to change when Simmy discovers the little blue penguins. There are even some penguins living under a hole in his bedroom floor. The more he gets to know and understand about the little blue penguins, the happier he becomes. Watching out for big storms, going fishing and caring for the penguins, shows Simmy there is more to life even when you are out in very remote places. Sweet illustrations support the information this story book is sharing about penguins, and highlights the need for us all to care for these beautiful birds.

These books certainly tie in very nicely with our studies about penguins.

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