At the southernmost landmass on Earth, there may be no human residents, but there are multitudes of animals. In the latest in a series of habitat-themed picture books, Ella Bailey introduces young readers to an adorable Adélie penguin with One Day on Our Blue Planet… in the Antarctic.
The little penguin has reached the right age to leave her parents and head out into the Antarctic Ocean to find food for herself. Her adventure takes her far across the ice to the very edge before plunging into the icy waters among many of her kind. Before long, she finds herself surrounded by many other creatures, briefly described in simple terms that convey what she may be thinking.
Her trip isn’t all smooth sailing, as she has to avoid becoming food for other animals as she searches out a meal. The front and back end pages introduce the names of the creatures with whom the Adélie penguin crosses paths, both above the ice and below it. Bailey’s illustrations draw attention to the shades of colors in what we may imagine to be just the white world of the Antarctic– the gray blends on an albatross, the subtle light rosiness of the a penguin’s chest, or the steely blue of a seal’s shiny back.
Highlighting one area of our blue planet with basic animal introductions and an easy flowing simple story line makes this picture book perfect for preschoolers and up.