Ethel the penguin by Ursula Dubosarsky and Christopher Nielsen

Ethel the Penguin is a brightly presented picture book that will appeal to young readers especially because Ethel is extremely mischievous and strong-willed. She lives in a semi-detached iceberg next door to her best friend who is telling this rhyming verse story.

Ethel gets up to mischief in the classroom, on the school crossing, and on this particular evening she runs away from her home to ride on a Ferris wheel. Her family and friends are terribly upset and try to find her before she gets herself into a dangerous situation. But she is a determined penguin and does exactly what she set out to do. Her parents plead with her to get off and after some thought she does exactly that – forgetting that penguins cannot fly. Fortunately, she lands somewhat safely and promises not to worry them again. However, can we believe Ethel?

The bold and colourful illustration are spread throughout the book, from the cover to the delightful endpapers and the large full page drawings. The use of highlighted words for reading aloud emphasis adds to the dramatic appeal of the story. The rhyming text is cleverly constructed but the use of the word ‘span’ in context of the spinning Ferris wheel led this reviewer to do some research and discover that ‘span’ is an older strong past tense form of spin used long ago.

Themes: Penguins, Friendship, Mischief.

Kathryn Beilby