Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Where is home Little Pip?
Illustrator: Jane Chapman
Picture Book Series
For ages 4 to 6
Simon and Schuster, 2008 ISBN: 978-0689859830
Pip is a little penguin who hatched out on a cold beach in the Antarctic. She is very small but that does not stop her from playing with the other young penguins. Pip minds her parents and does not "wander far." Even when her parents have to leave her on the beach so that they can catch fish for her, Pip does not go far from the penguin group.
And then one day Pip chases a loose feather. She chases and chases the feather until she finally catches it. Then Pip realizes that she has no idea where her home and her parents are. Pip asks a huge blue whale "where is home?" Unfortunately the blue whale's home is not where Pip lives. Next Pip asks a Kelp gull the same question, but the gull lives on a rocky cliff outcrop and not a beach with Mama and Papa. Will Pip ever find her home?
In this delightful picture book brought to us by the same duo who created Bear Snores On, we meet a little penguin chick who learns that "home" means different things to different creatures. More importantly for Pip is the fact that she discovers that home is not necessarily one particular place. It is far more than that.
With Jane Chapman's wonderful illustrations and a charming text, this is a picture book that will surely become a firm favorite.