Amazon.com Review
"Space is no trouble... if you float like a bubble." For this dreaming penguin, the sky's the limit! Chongo Chingi drifts off to sleep one night, thinking about flying. Soon, much to the amazement of the flightless bird, he's soaring through the sky, startling geese, keeping up with jets, and zooming past oddly fishy looking planets and stars to surface in a world within a world, or a dream within a dream. In the spirit of the best fantasy tales, the story ends with the ringing of an alarm clock.
Penguin Dreams is a perfect takeoff point for any young reader with big dreams and an airborne imagination. J. otto Seibold's distinctive postmodern style, using computer graphics and lovely muted colors, is terrifically appealing. He and V.L. Walsh have teamed up on many other favorite titles, including Olive, the Other Reindeer and the Mr. Lunch series, including Free Lunch. Penguin lovers, rejoice! (Ages 3 to 7)
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-A penguin with the tongue-rolling name of Chongo Chingi has an active imagination, even when he's sleeping. In his dreams, as Chongo spreads his flippers to dive, he becomes airborne. He looks below and sees a panoramic view of the zoo he calls home. He flies higher and passes geese, airplanes, balloons, a bat/vampire, planets, space creatures, and a host of underwater creatures. He then surfaces in a vast, frozen antarctic world filled with penguins and other figures. As his alarm clock intrudes into the dream, Chongo Chingi is awakened. This cutting-edge creative work is a delight to the eye and the ear. The computer art produces an endless variety of shades and tones in many soft background colors and figures that vary in size from a full-page penguin to dozens of figures on a double-page spread. The penguins are cuddly and the characters are animated and expressive. The brief rhyming text, which is integrated into the artwork, is eye-catching, rhythmic, and fun to read aloud. The book is best for primary grades; younger children might miss some of the nuances, but will still enjoy the language and pictures. Daydreamers will appreciate it, as will their teachers and parents.
Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
