Overview
From the creator of Lars, the little Polar Bear, comes another beguiling animal hero, Leonardo the penguin.
Leonardo had a dream. he wanted to fly. Every day Leonardo would smile confidently at his little wings and encourage them to grow. He'd stand on one leg at the top of the cliff, letting the wind brush through his feathers and imagine that he was flying over the ocean. The other penguins laughed at Leonardo. Whoever heard of a flying penguin? But Leonardo was no discouraged. Day after day, he practiced flying. He hopped and flapped and hopped and flapped, but it was no use. he never left the ground.
How Leonardo, with some encouragement from a friendly albatross, proves that perseverance pays off, and even the most impossible dreams can come true, is an uplifting story that will send young spirits soaring.
Synopsis
Leonardo spends his days dreaming of flying, but penguins can't fly. Day after day he hops and flaps, hops and flaps, all to no avail. Leonardo learns, with some help from a friendly albatross, that perseverence pays off in this uplifting story.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-The creator of Little Polar Bear introduces Leonardo the penguin, who persists in his dream to fly, despite his peers' puzzlement. With the encouragement of an albatross that agrees to model, Leonardo attempts to create large, strap-on appendages, much like the wing studies created by his namesake in the 1500s. Luckily, the resulting crash reveals a snow-banked biplane. The brainy penguin studies the instruction manuals and takes his flock mates (plus the albatross as copilot) for a ride. Fuel runs out right after a perfect landing, and Leonardo's journey ends as he discovers the joy of "flying" underwater with his own wings-while wearing an aviator's hat, of course. De Beer's trademark watercolors and rounded characters continue to entertain.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.