This book would be good for upper intermediate and middle grade levels. It could be used as a steppingstone for a presentation about penguins or the Artic. The book is all things you need to know about penguins, from their size to their predators, it has lots of pictures comparing and contrasting them as well as pages tailored to specific penguins. ( )

Let’s face it: penguins are hot these days. Even before their recent rise in popularity, penguins always were a favorite of mine: I used to tell my wife that I thought it was impossible to frown while looking at the silly creatures. With the success of movies like March of the Penguins and Happy Feet penguins might be a unique opportunity to get some children interested in nature.
This book uses a scrapbook approach to cover a depth of information on penguins. Each species is given its own spread, and species are compared in the beginning. The entire life cycle and their behavior are described in good detail, as are the natural history of the species. I think the information is rather accurate, though at times it seems simplified.
As a teacher, I like the idea of giving children a chance to pick a species and give a report on how that species lives, its environment and niche. I think that this book would be a great reference tool for an assignment such as this as it gives comprehensive account of all aspects of penguins’ life histories including human threats and predation. This book might be more accessible to younger audiences than larger reference book and is visually exciting. Just as an introduction to what we are talking about when we cover the idea of a niche (environment, predators, nesting habits, life cycle, prey, adaptations, etc) this book can be a useful introduction to many of the factors and terms scientists use. ( )