10 Plucky Penguins product reviews

When I saw that there was another exciting book out in the kiwi-as adventure series I couldn't help but go out and by it, as my daughter and the children who I look after in a daycare centre absolutely love the other 2 we have 10 Kooky Kiwi and 10 Goofy Geckos, the fact that this book was about '10 Plucky Penguin' was without a doubt going to be an absolute hit, especially with Miss 2 after our recent trip to Kelly Tarlton's where she has developed an obsession of Penguins from!

The book certainly lived up to the high standard of the previous 2 books, right from the front cover it was bright, fun and colourful and portrayed exactly what the story was about 10 penguins! I loved the way that each penguin had it's own special character whether it seemed to be based on a personality or more through it's dress sense, it was quite a game with my daughter as we turned each page to try and find each of the penguins for example the one with the red hat or the stripy scarf. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and very well done.

Like the other books in the series the story counts down from 10 penguins to 1, which I really like as my daughter has mastered counting forward from 1 to 10 and so counting down from 10 to 1 provides her a whole new challenge, and what better way to do so than through a fun counting book with a fun catchy CD to sing along with! It is so much fun to sing along with the CD and doesn't take long for children to begin to sing along to it and pick up on the words. At the end of the CD it goes from English to Maori singing which as an Early Childhood Teacher is quite good as part of our curriculum is to integrate Te Reo and this is not one of my strong points so I like using this book to aid me with this.

Definitely another much loved books that has been read time and time again in the 2 short weeks we have had it (this was purchased for my daughters birthday however I couldn't help but give it to her after a day of buying as I knew how much she'd love it). Another fantastic book, I look forward to seeing the next release, finger crossed.

Working with children I am always looking for new, exciting, educational books to introduce to them. I always try and buy New Zealand books where possible as I think it's important to introduce children to books with a kiwi flare to them. I have both 10 Kooky kiwi and 10 Goofy Geckos so I was very excited to see there was a new one in the series.

As soon as the book arrived I knew it was going to be a hit once again it was full of bright, attractive, entertaining pictures. Every page full of delights and lots of little details to discover. Each penguin has its own unique character, a message I think is important in any story that each and every one of us is unique. Deborah Hinde has done a delightful job on the illustrations and when I read it with my niece and nephew we spent ages going through the book afterwards spotting lots of different details.

Pio Terei does a great job at being the voice of the book he's very easy to listen to and it doesn't get on your nerves after several times on repeat like a lot of children's books do. The book within itself is also really well written, each verse has a different message in it and provides lots of great talking points. My niece has fun looking at the pictures and trying to decide what was going to happen next.

The fact that the book is also in Te Reo is also another big selling point for me. Introducing children to different languages at a young age is very important to me. At work we speak a lot of Te Reo so any books that can support that are great. This book has been a winner for everyone who has read it, my niece loves it so much she has picked it as a goodbye present for her centre when she moves on to school in a few weeks.

Our family are very familiar with some of previous books to have come out in this series. We have really enjoyed 10 Kooky Kiwi and 10 Goofy Geckos. We knew that we would also love the latest book 10 Plucky Penguins. As you can see, the titles are catchy and also reflect the fact that they are part of the same series of books.

Any book with counting in is a hit with children. It encourages a simple skill to be practiced over and over again. When my children looked at this book, they began to sing the song to the tune of 'Ten Green Bottles'. They hadn't even looked inside the book and were making it up. They are so familiar with how it all goes. It is great for Miss Three as she is just developing a sense of numbers and counting to ten and back from ten. I knew this book would appeal to her.

Penguins are obviously the main theme through the book. Yet again they are fun, colourful and entertaining. Each penguin has its own characteristics and they are all very cute. My children and I all enjoyed the illustrations that Deborah Hinde has produced.

There are plenty of messages through the book as well. It supports the idea of swimming with others, watching where you are going, working with the team etc. These could be discussion points if this book was used with children, either in the classroom or at home. Any chance to discuss water safety with children is good. I am not sure if this was an intended outcome from the otherwise entertaining book, but it works for me!

At the end of the story, all the penguins are safe and sound back in bed. Miss Three particularly likes this as she can get rather upset if animals and birds can't find their way home at the end of a story! She was happy with the fact they were all settled and safe.

As with the other two books, Pio Terei sings both the English and the Maori versions of the song. Pio's voice is so easy to hear and pleasant to the ear as well. These are presented on a CD which is in a little pocket at the back of the book. The CD adds a considerable amount of fun and entertainment to the book. There is also a musical accompaniment on the CD which allows parents or teachers to get the children to sing along to the book themselves. For some people, the Maori version would be a bit tricky to sing and the CD offers a version which encourages people to listen to and also practice Te Reo Maori. Not only is this interesting and useful for people who live in New Zealand, it would also provide a chance to listen to the Maori language for people who live overseas and may have received this book as a gift. We played it in the car on our holiday beach trips even before the kids had seen the book. They sang along with it.

I enjoy books which are local to New Zealand and encourage the Maori as well as English. This is another fantastic book and I would highly recommend it as a gift for friends and family in New Zealand or overseas.