PENGUINS LOVE COLORS

Using six baby penguins covered in paint, Aspinall introduces colors and flowers in this bright-eyed book.

With babies named Tulip, Tiger Lily, Dandelion, Violet, Bluebell, and Broccoli, Mama Penguin must love flowers. (A note on the copyright page clarifies that broccoli is indeed a flower.) Her six wide-eyed, black-and-white baby penguins are indistinguishable except for their berets, each representing the color of its flowery name. Tulip wears a red beret, Tiger Lily’s is orange, and so on. With the energy and good intentions of youngsters on a special day, the clan decides to surprise Mama with a gift. “Let’s use our paints and make the most colorful picture we can!” Aspinall then zooms in close to bold, double-paged spreads of each penguin and the rich color it is using. Six baby penguins in rainbow colors is a beautiful sight. However, the storyline is easily anticipated, with painting, messy babies, and a bath. The concept of color mixing is absent, which seems impossible with little ones. The focus instead turns to the flowers, showing each bloom labeled and silhouetted in one single color. Mama Penguin, bundling her rainbow babies to her, exults, “I love flowers, and I love colors, but not as much as I love… / …my six little penguins.”

An adequate color and flowers concept book with an exuberant cast of characters.