Customer Reviews

A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton

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My 1st grader came home with this from the library and we all loved it! It's a great story and wonderful illustrations. Kellogg really knows how to make kids laugh, but the adults were also laughing. I've looked for a while to find a reliable children's author who can tell a funny story and I finally found one!

At my school's recent book fair I fell in love with Steven Kellogg's "A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton." I continued to go to that book's shelf, pick up that book, look through it, laugh, and put it down. Because I was so enthusiastic about the book, I was able to sell several copies. (As librarian, I am in charge of Book Fair.)

Normally, I do not care for Kellogg's artwork (I apologize for saying that. Why don't I like it? Because it is so busy and cartoonish.) However, in this book, the artwork is more realistic. And the story, oh my gosh, the story is just nothing short of fabulous! I saw a video some years back on emperor penguins and how the fathers hold those eggs on their feet for the duration of winter, never letting them off, no matter what. I was mesmerized by their dedication!

When Pinkerton's girl comes home from school, explaining about emperor penguins, she assumes that Rose,their female cat, harbors a desire to be motherly. Wrong, it is Pinkerton affected by the story. He takes the football he "borrowed" earlier in the day from a neighborhood boy and begins to tend to it on his feet. The girl takes him to school the next day for Show-and-Tell. The football boy claims his football, Pinkerton finds another at a local football game on the way home from school. After mayhem and confusion, Grandmother, an expert seamstress, comes to the rescue with another "egg" that "hatches" a penguin pup. Everyone is happy, especially Pinkerton.

A simple summary. What is this? I closed the book and there on the back cover is the girl's teacher, holding an egg on his feet in the classroom. It is cracking....

That Kellogg has a sense of....whatever it is, it is funny, poignant, and downright entertaining! Way to go, Mr. Kellogg, you convinced me! This book is highly recommended!

I don't think kids would quite understand the funny twist of dog getting all of the sudden eager to become a penguin - but I found it really charming

A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton
When Emily learns all about devoted Emperor penguin fathers at school, her Great Dane Pinkerton is inspired to begin caring for an egg himself. Unfortunately, since a penguin egg isn't available, the confused Pinkerton tries to hatch a football instead. Hijinks and pandemonium ensue as Pinkerton attempts to care for his "egg" against all odds.

This is a "mom only" book, since Emily's dad does not appear in the story (even at bedtime), and it is her Mom and Granny that Emily phones for help when the whole town begins chasing Pinkerton. On the other hand, Pinkerton is certainly a committed animal father, and an example of cross-species adoption as well.

Last summer, my son's school reading list included two Pinkerton books. Any two Pinkerton books. I ordered this one and Pinkerton Behave! Both stories resonated for me, because I grew up with large dogs, one of whom actually did "love" a burglar out of the house and "play" football down at the high school with the neighbor kids.

While the burglar story was way too scary for my child to read alone, which was the point of the summer reading list, and I couldn't figure out a way to make it less scary by reading it with him, A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton was perfect for my son's age (7) and reading level (advanced first grade). He got the jokes and loved the pictures, and he pulled out the book and read it to himself several times over the summer.

We ended up running across another Pinkerton book at the doctor's office later last summer, thus fulfilling our Pinkerton requirements. I do not recall the title. It was much less scary than Pinkerton Behave! and far less memorable than the Penguin Pup.

The other Pinkerton books, I'm afraid, don't measure up... I wish they did.

The others' story lines are my biggest complaint--but this one is adorable.

Regarding book reviews, to borrow (and mangle) a famous line: "Where seldom is heard, an [en]couraging word..." here's one: Come on Mr. Kellogg, you can do it! Give us another Penguin Pup!