Korora and the Sushi Shop product reviews

Korora and the sushi shop is such a fun story with great use of rhyme and rhythm about two cheeky korora and the efforts of both the New Zealand police and Department of Conservation to keep them where they should be. The story is inspired by true events in Wellington where the two little Korora or little blue penguins ventured into a sushi shop trying to find somewhere to nest.

What better place for a penguin right, a sushi shop! The aroma of salmon, tuna and seaweed was probably such an attraction for the adventures creatures. Although in reality the korora were certainly safer closer to the shore away from humans and other dangers. They just had to find a way to keep them at the safety of the shore. Building them a nesting box and seafood to entice them into their new surroundings. I love how we protect these special New Zealand seabirds so sharing a story about their antics and how some pretty important agencies worked to keep them safe is pretty cool.

My little miss 4 especially loved this story. Fascinated by the illustrations of the Korora that Jenny Cooper has done in such a delightful way. She captured the cheekiness of the birds fantastically through the comical expressions on their little faces. We giggled at the look of surprise on their faces when the torch shone down on their hiding place under the sushi store. Definitely an accurate representation if my children's faces when they get busted doing something they're not supposed to be is anything to go by. It certainly pays to just spend sometime looking at the pictures and just enjoying them on their own which miss 4 does often as she likes to look at books even if she can't read them yet.

The book uses mostly simple words in a bouncy rhyming rhythm making it a joy to read aloud though there are a couple of trickier words to wrap your tongue around like crustaceous, and deflated. While for younger listeners they can understand and enjoy the story enough without knowing what these mean as they get older you could certainly discuss the words and their meanings to increase the vocabulary bank! It is a great story to read aloud to younger children, and simple enough for emerging readers to try on their own. I feel it would be a great resource to have in New Zealand schools to teach about conservation and our special wildlife.

Included in the back of the book is a handy guide to the Korora: little blue penguins with information about them including where they live, what they eat and what puts then in danger. I think it is great how they included some information on what we can do to help protect them too like keeping dogs on leads and keeping our distance if we see one. This is such an important conservation and one I had with my children after reading the story and the information at the back.

This book is a real treasure and one that's sure to be a hit in both schools as an educational resource and at home as a book for pleasure. It has certainly been read over and over again since being received in this house. Whole heartedly recommend it and opening up those conversations about protecting special creatures like the two cheeky sushi shop Korora!

This is one of those unique stories that appeals to children of different ages. Miss 10 is an enthusiastic conservationist and loves books that are based on fact - she was sold on this one as soon as she spotted the speech balloon assuring the reader that the story was "Inspired by TRUE EVENTS". She was soon curled up with the book, and we did not hear another word from her until she had read through to the end. Much to her delight, we were expecting visitors so she would get to share the story with the six-year-old twins.

I watched her reading to them, one twin on each side, and the toddler at her feet. He was content to sit there even though he could not really follow the story, but she showed him the pictures before turning each page and he was able to recognise the birds. The twins, however, loved the way that the sushi shop was the nest of choice for the little penguins. They like sushi too so approved of the choice! At their age, they were easily able to follow the story although Miss Ten had to explain a couple of the bigger words like "crustaceous delights" and "deflated". When she got to the last page, where the author explains some of the interesting facts about penguins, she did not read it to the little ones; instead, she summarised the information in words they could understand.

Watching the pleasure the children got from this story was pure magic. It was a learning experience for all of them; Miss Ten had to rephrase some of the text so the twins could understand it all, while they in turn had lots of questions and kept interrupting with their own feedback. Mr Two, the toddler, joined in at his level, but we all laughed when Miss Ten asked which was his favourite picture and he declared that it was the policeman's bottom! This is the image where Wini and Constable Zhu are crouching over to look into the penguin in her makeshift burrow.

As an adult, I was interested in the fact sheet at the end of the book. It is useful for children to increase their knowledge of native species and their habits, but I regularly find that I learn something new as well. The rhyming pattern makes the main text most accessible for children; the smaller font and more complex sentence structures in the "Penguin Particulars" make it clear that this page is for older readers. Miss Ten is going to keep the book on her shelf and has promised to read it again when the twins and their little brother next come to visit - a treat to look forward to!