Tacky the Penguin
By Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger
4.5/5
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About this ebook
An offbeat penguin shows his peers the power of individuality in this humorous tale from the author of Pookins Gets Her Way.
Tacky is an odd bird. He likes to do splashy cannonballs and greet his companions with a loud "What's happening?" In fact, he's something of an eccentric, which wouldn't be a problem if all the other penguins weren't such…conformists.
When intimidating visitors invade their peaceful, nice, icy land, it'll take a lot more than a bunch of perfect penguins to save the day. Thank goodness Tacky's such an odd bird!
“This book is must reading for any kid—or grown-up—who refuses to follow the pack.”—Publishers WeeklyHelen Lester
Helen Lester has written many hilarious and popular picture books, including the Tacky the Penguin series and Hooway for Wodney Wat. She lives in New York. www.helenlester.com
Read more from Helen Lester
Tacky and the Winter Games Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wodney Wat's Wobot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Tacky the Penguin
221 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5this is a must read, according to my nephews ages 7, 6, 4.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The story that made me fall in love with penguins as a child and even more as I am reading it now. This is the story of the tacky penguin that did not fit in with the other penguins. The author's central message was that being different is not always a bad thing. In the beginning of the story the penguin is seen as annoying and always bothering the other penguins. The other penguins are given sophisticated names and seen as superior penguins. But in the end, they needed the tacky penguins help to rid off the hunters. So even though the tacky penguin was different, he ended up helping the other penguins in the end. My evaluation of the story is that is sends a clear central message that all children should learn about at a young age, that being different is not bad. I also think the author is trying to tell the readers that being accepting of other people is very important in life.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book explore the idea of being an individual and not conforming to those around you because that is how you are "supposed" to act. Tacky is an odd bird, and he walks, sings and dives differently than all his graceful companions. However, Tacky's oddness and cleverness come in handy when he gets the hunters to leave the penguins alone.This book has cute pictures, relatively simply vocabulary and not a ton of words on every page. Great for early elementary. This book is great at teaching children that being yourself is very powerful, and that conforming to society is not always a good thing.Teaching Extension:Have students write about/discuss their differences and what makes them a unique individual. Introduce the concepts of "conforming" and "individuality."
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tacky the penguin does not fit in with his sleek and graceful companions, but his odd behavior comes in handy when hunters come with maps and traps.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This story is about a penguin named Tacky, who for the majority of the story does not fit in with the other penguins. He likes to have fun and do things his own way, and the other penguins find his playful behavior strange. It is not until Tacky saves the other penguins from being taken by hunters that the other penguins realize how lucky they are to have Tacky as their friend, and they accept him for who he is.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tacky is not quite like all the other penguins. They find him loud and difficult. Tacky's antics are sure to make little listeners laugh and of course end up saving the day.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tacky is the Joe Dirt of penguins! He shows us that even if we march to our own beat, cannonball rather then swan dive, or sing on a different key we are uniquely lovable.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tacky is such a fun penguin. This is a good book to use when setting the purpose before reading. You can give students things to look for such as differences between Tacky and the other penguins.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Original Tacky the Penguin story. The other penguins do not get along with Tacky because he is different, but then his differences save the other penguins from hunters. Tacky is an odd penguin but sometimes good to have around.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked this book mainly because of the illustrations. They were very detailed and the humanistic facial expressions depicted the characters well. I thought the images were very age appropriate and enjoyable, filled with color. I liked how Tacky was wearing a Hawiian shirt; it added humor and irony because that piece of clothing is tacky itself and made Tacky stand out from the other penguins, adding emphasis on the main idea that Tacky is unique. I enjoyed the repetition of the penguin's names throughout the story and the hunter's dialogue that rhymed. This minor detail helped readers stay engaged. For example, "rich, rich, rich" was continuously repeated. I liked the main idea of this story because it embraces individuality. The story showed how Tacky used his uniqueness to scare away the hunters. The author made it clear that the message is to be proud that each and every person is different.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The message "it's okay to be different" is a popular one in the world of picture books. Unfortunately, it's usually paired with vivid examples of people harassing the different person - comes a point in Rudolph, for example, where I wonder why the red-nosed reindeer agreed to help any of them!Tacky manages to avoid that. Tacky is different from the other penguins, and doesn't fit in, but they don't go out of their way to make him feel bad for that. And then, of course, his differences go on to save the day. Well, that and his bad singing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a cute children's book with a valuable lesson!!!!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect - as the reader might have intuited from their names - were the sort of well-groomed penguins who marched in time. The sort who were graceful divers, sweet singers, and always greeted each other politely. Tacky was a different kind of penguin - a distinctly odd kind. He liked loud shirts, loud greetings, and loud (splashy) cannonballs; and although they were far too polite to comment, his companions looked askance at his many shenanigans. And then one day, three rough and tough hunters arrived, and Tacky's tackiness suddenly came in handy...The first in series of picture-books devoted to the adventures of this lovable nonconformist, Tacky the Penguin is a hilariously engaging animal story that demonstrates what a blessing it is to be an individual. Lynn Munsinger's droll illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to Lester's tale, emphasizing the zany madcap-antics of her characters. Although long aware of the Tacky books, I had somehow never gotten around to reading them, when a recent Horn Book review of the latest title (Tacky Goes to Camp) convinced me to rectify that mistake. How happy I am that I did! I sense another Bad Bear project in the offing...
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This story of a oddball bird that saves his friends with his oddball ways. They only apprecaite him after they see the value in his strangeness, and then, oh boy, are they greatful. I love Tacky. He's the kind of penguin I'd like to be.