Penguins at Home: Gentoos of Antarctica [Hardcover]

Bruce McMillan (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Travel to a place that few people visit and discover why these birds are so perfectly "suited" in their black and white feathers to this seemingly inhospitable corner of the world -- Antarctica.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Once again, McMillan successfully draws readers into the world of the creatures he studies. This time he explores the Southern Gentoos of the Antarctic Peninsula. He combines brief one-to two-word headings like he utilized in Going on a Whale Watch (Scholastic, 1992) and detailed descriptions like those he employed in A Beach for the Birds (Houghton, 1993) with his trademark, high-quality photographs. The full-color shots are beautiful, but not glamorized or sensationalized. While Gentoos are examined within the context of the Brush-tail penguins to which they belong, this is essentially a book about the single species. A helpful synopsis of Brush-tail traits is appended. Information about physical characteristics, feeding, locomotion, and breeding practices are well covered. Parents are said to "protect their chicks with 'umbrellas'-their own warm, waterproof bodies." Hungry chicks peck at the doors of "their baby food 'cabinets'-their parents' bills." Later, "'they put on their new snowsuits'- grow their new waterproof feathers." While these cute terms minimize the wonder of nature and detract from the book's scientific credibility, it is still a highly accurate account. Aside from this minor flaw, this wonderful look at Penguins at Home will have wide appeal.
Lisa Wu Stowe, Great Neck Library, NY
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-6. This attractive photo-essay has been designed with admirable care and intelligence. Each page is devoted to a discrete aspect of Gentoo physiology or behavior and then organized to follow the mating cycle of the colony. A word or brief phrase is printed in boldface type at the upper outside corner of each page, interpreting the central photo for browsers and introducing the theme of the text for more serious readers. Although McMillan's uniform half-page photos do capture engaging characteristics of this species, "cute" close-ups do not dominate. More often the penguins are photographed as comparatively small figures within the barren Antarctic landscape, a visual approach that aids in understanding their behavior. Even the endpaper and credit background photos have been selected to display the bleak and majestic ice cliffs of the Gentoos' habitat. The study includes a short essay comparing the Gentoo with Chinstrap and Ad{‚}elie Brush-tails; a map of Antarctica, which notes the various species' breeding areas; and a short bibliography. The location of each photo site is clearly documented, and sources of verification of penguin facts are credited. Elizabeth Bush

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 27, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395665604
• ISBN-13: 978-0395665602
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,788,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Penguins at Home:Gentoo Penguins, November 29, 2007

By 

T. Darling (Reno, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Penguins at Home: Gentoos of Antarctica (Hardcover)

Great! I used it with my third graders when reading Mr. Popper's Penguins. It helped to compare and contrast the two different types of penguins.