Weekly Penguin

Weekly Penguin 365

Welcome to the 365th Weekly Penguin, which is, obviously, the grand 365 Penguins, written by Jean-Luc Fromental and illustrated Joëlle Jolivet. And yes, if the style looks familiar, it's because we've featured one this duo's penguin books before, 10 Little Penguins. This one is, again, number themed tale, focusing on, obviously, days of the year.

The story begins on January 1st when the mailman brings a surprise to the family; a penguin. And the following day there's another. And one after that. Soon, day by day, penguins fill the house. At first they are cute, but with every passing day, the penguins pile up – along with the family's problems. It's a bit like an extreme version of Mr. Popper's Penguins and it hits, not-so-surprisingly, very close to home.

I picked this book up from ZSL Zoo souvenir shop, on the same trip we met the awesome duo Jack and Ricky. The shop was filled with amazing penguin goodies and gathered a shopping back full of them, from plush toys to trinkets. Petja was checking out children's books and called me over. He was holding this book and at the first I thought 'no matter what that is, I won't be buying it', as it was humongous – one of those extra-large children's books that would barely fit in my luggage. But then Petja showed me the book – and this one particular passage;

Once you've reached the point of no return, one penguin more or one penguin less each day doesn't make much difference anymore.

You live penguin. You think penguin. You dream penguin. You become penguin.

Jean-Luc Fromental and Joëlle Jolivet, "365 Penguins"

As a penguin collector I can safely say that those, dear friends, are the truest words I've ever read in any book. Ever. And much like this book, TAGAP website now features a penguin for every single day of the year!

Added: 2014-08-12