Hello, friends! We have an interesting one today: Penguins Of America, written by James and Jack Patterson with Florence Yue and illustrated by James Madsen. This one is technically not a children’s book, but a coffee table/humor book (JJ grabbed it from a shelf at the library because she loves penguins, and well, this is her blog too). However, it put a big smile on her face, so we felt it was worth reviewing regardless of its intended audience.

Journey across the United States and meet penguins from every walk of life, from the rich and glamorous to the humble blue-collar (black-collar?) workers that make things go. Peek into their lives as they go to their jobs (fish market, seal-walker, etc), spend their leisure time surfing and watching movies, follow the latest fashions (why is it called a “cat”walk, anyway?), and even get married and start families. 

This was definitely more for adults, being a satirical look at various aspects of American life. Most of the jokes would probably be over the heads of younger bookworms, and there were at least three instances that I noticed of characters smoking, plus various depictions of alcohol and slightly adult humor. However, if you can look past those, this one still had a surprising amount of appeal as a picture book! The text was presented in short segments that could be easily read aloud, the length wasn’t bad, and the art was absolutely gorgeous, lovingly rendered in great detail to show both the humorous and sincere aspects of American life, penguin style. So while this one may not be strictly for children, it WAS a treat for penguin-lovers like JJ, and would delight all ages who are fans of our formally feathered friends. Baby Bookworm approved!