Synopsis
Best friends Toucan, Giraffe, and Penguin all have something special about them but it takes the others to point it out. Giraffe feels he is too tall, Penguin wants to fly, and Toucan is embarrassed by his big yellow beak. But they discover that they can use their differences to help their friends. A lovely story about friendship and celebrating differences.
Children's Literature
Giraffe, Penguin, and Toucan are friends though each of them has a characteristic that makes them feel out of place: Giraffe is afraid he is too tall; Penguin feels bad that she can't fly; Toucan is self-conscious about his big yellow beak. But in the short chapter devoted to each situation, each of the three is helped by the other two friends to find out how their difference can be useful. It is refreshing to see that this clear moral about valuing one's differences is not heavy handed. The text is lively, even though the vocabulary is controlled. Exclamations such as "Oh No," or "Ow" are set off in speech bubbles that reinforce characterization. Padua's bright colored, somewhat stylized illustrations are appealing and offer a close match to the 4 lines or so of text on each page. Early readers will be proud of their ability to get through this "chapter book" (identified as being at level G). They can do one chapter per sitting or possibly get through all of it in a single go. Either way, the stories are strong enough that they bear rereading—and thus invite an opportunity to build fluency.