365 Penguins

A family are somewhat bemused when they receive a gift of a penguin on January 1st. Then another one arrives the next day, and another on the third. So it goes, as a new penguin arrives every day for a year. Needless to say, this involves the family in all sorts of problems - how does one care for so many penguins?! - but it also presents some opportunities for fun mathematical problems. In the end, the mystery of who is sending these avian guests is resolved...

Originally published in Frances as 365 Pingouins, this oversized picture-book is the second title I have read from author/artist team Jean-Luc Fromental and Joëlle Jolivet, following upon their Bonesville. As I finished it, I couldn't help feeling that I was meant to find it far show more more amusing then I did, especially given how entertaining I found their other book. That said, it was engaging enough, and I can certainly see how others would really enjoy it, given its mixture of oddball family adventure story, mathematical education, and appealing artwork. I'm not sure why it didn't quite work for me - perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind? Whatever the case may be, although I didn't love 365 Penguins, I would still recommend it, especially to fans of this author and illustrator. show less

What a fun way to explore math concepts. A family receives a penguin every day for a year and the book explores math concepts like adding and multiplication through feeding them and finding ways to house them. Also pretty funny.

I LOVED this book! It was a counting book as well as a book about the days of the year. You also get to look for things in the book and see what the penguins are doing, half way through you get a special penguin named chilly...and his feet are blue, and from then on out you can look for chilly in the pictures, you can always find him at least once on every page for the rest of the book. This book was amazing!

This math based book is absurd and a bit of a chore to read aloud, but children find the large size and graphic illustrations appealing. Do not introduce to children if you lack the patience to read it repeatedly.

Absolutely charmed my socks off. Some math, some science, retro art, and a whole lot of humor.

I enjoyed the copy that is archived on openlibrary.org, but 'ware the scanning glitch that adds a second copy of a spread prematurely.

I do recommend this if you need a smile, and I will look for more by the author.

This book was absolutely adorable, and terribly engaging. The child I was reading this with could not stop talking about it, and wanted to got through it a second time. It is a great book for math; it introduces multiplication in a visual and realistic way. You don't even have to talk to the students about multiplication, but just mention it as grouping. The book has questions that are provocations for multiplication. An added bonus is that it addresses science issues that our world faces: climate change.

What a fun way to explore math concepts. A family receives a penguin every day for a year and the book explores math concepts like adding and multiplication through feeding them and finding ways to house them. Also pretty funny.