Where Is Home, Little Pip?
PreSchool-Grade 1—This book invokes themes of family and home in an Arctic setting. A young penguin loves to play and explore but is constantly warned by her doting parents not to wander far. Every night they sing a song reminding her that "our home is...in our pebbly nest by the stormy sea,/where Mama and Papa and Pip makes three." (The grammatical error is unfortunate.) One day, inevitably, Pip wanders off and becomes lost. She asks the different animals that she encounters, "Where is home?" But for each creature, home is a different place. Alone and frightened in the frozen wilderness, Pip sings the song that Mama and Papa taught her, and, like a talisman, it brings them together for a joyful reunion ("Since we're together, home is right here!"). Well-structured text, genuine emotions, and beautiful full-bleed illustrations in a palette that ranges from cool whites and blues to warm pinks, corals, and tans combine to produce a wonderful story of a loving family separated and then reunited. Pair this tale with reassuring stories such as Harry Horse'sLittle Rabbit Lost(Peachtree, 2002), Janell Cannon'sStellaluna(Harcourt, 1993), and Martin Waddell'sOwl Babies(Candlewick, 1992).—Jane Marino, Bronxville Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.