Author & Illustrators
Last year, the first Einstein the Penguin book was a huge success and the next book in the series publishes this month. The newest book, Einstein the Penguin: The Case of the Fishy Detective, sees the loveable penguin Einstein return with a new adventure involving a surprise kidnapping and a mystery to solve.
Iona started writing Einstein the Penguin while she was studying English at Oxford, stating that writing children’s books was more fun than studying for final exams. Now, what started as a project alongside her studies has been published with HarperCollins Children’s Books and was named The Sunday Times Children’s Book of the week.
The stories are an enjoyable mix of whodunnit and a hilarious story of a penguin who comes to live with two children, causing them to put aside their sibling squabbles and come to his rescue. This is a lovely choice of a class read for Lower KS2, and children will enjoy the parody of incompetent teachers/zoo keepers/detectives/parents while also prompting several discussion points about right and wrong. The series makes a fun next step for readers who have enjoyed Paddington or Erica’s Elephant.
When Mrs Stewart invites a small penguin to visit on a spontaneous visit to London Zoo, no one could have imagined that later that day they would find him on their doorstep, rucksack on his back and an adventure about to begin…
Einstein the Penguin is the debut children’s novel for Iona Rangeley, aptly brought to life with the help of the award-winning illustrator, David Tazzyman. A lovely mix of whodunnit with a slightly preposterous story of a penguin who comes to live with our two heroes, Imogen (age 9) and Arthur (age 6), causing them to put aside their sibling squabbles and come to his rescue. Rangeley manages to pull at your heartstrings as you come to understand each of the characters’ insecurities, bringing together the fear of losing a friend with the loneliness associated with never having had one. The grown-ups are scatty at best and young readers will love it as our heroes come to put one over on them.
Lovely as a class readaloud, children will enjoy the parody of incompetent teachers/zoo-keepers/detectives/parents while also prompting several discussion points about right and wrong. This could be a fun next step for readers who have enjoyed Paddington or Erica’s Elephant.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Any other comments
Any other comments