Module 6

Module 6

Tacky the Penguin

Summary:

Tacky has never behaved like the other penguins, speaking softly, walking in a straight line, singing beautifully, diving gracefully, but when danger comes different is exactly what they need to stay safe from hunters.

Citation:

Lester, H. (1988). Tacky the penguin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

My Thoughts:

I love to share the Tacky books with my students when we are studying arctic animals and penguins. The books are great for read aloud and they are really fun.  I like how the author shows that it is not necessary to be the same as someone else. We are all individuals and have different personalities. That is what makes us able to work together. Different is okay. In this case, Tacky’s diversity saved his friends. I think it is funny that at the beginning of the book they did not want anything to do with Tacky and then at the end they were so grateful for him. I have noticed that at the end of the books it says, “Tacky was an odd bird, but a great bird to have around.”

 

Review:

Tacky the Penguin

  Tacky was a penguin who lived in “a nice icy land” full of icebergs and freezing water. Tacky was not at all like the other penguins because he would not bow politely as a greeting, he would not march neatly, he was not a “graceful” diver, and his singing was quite hideous. Because of this, the elegant penguins really did not have a lot of time for Tacky. He was an “odd bird” who wasn’t their sort.

  Then the penguins heard the heavy footfalls of hunters. Terrified out of their wits, the elegant penguins hid behind a block of ice. The hunters were looking for “pretty penguins” that they would round up and then sell “for a dollar.” Tacky did not run away. Instead he stood his ground and waited for the hunters to get to him.

  Without a doubt Tacky is one of the funniest bird book characters around. He is completely unlike his companions with his loud flowered shirt, his decidedly pudgy physique, and his uniquely unpenguin-like way of doing things. And for this reason young readers will think he is absolutely wonderful. Tacky, in his own special way, shows children that there is nothing wrong with being different.

  With Helen Lester’s delightfully funny text and Lynn Munsinger’s humorous illustrations, this is a board book that children will want to come back to again and again.

 

Admin. (2014). Book Review. Retrieved from Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review: http://www.lookingglassreview.com/html/tacky_the_penguin.html

 

 

Activities:

Students will design and color their own “tacky” shirt to be displayed around the library.