Penguin Problems (The Life of Ty) - Hardcover

Lauren Myracle (www.laurenmyracle.com) is the bestselling and award-winning author of many novels for teens and tweens, including The Winnie Years series. Lauren received a master of fine arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. She lives with her kiddos in Colorado.

It was a fortunate mix of ingredients that formed illustrator Jed Henry (jedhenry.tumblr.com). Barefoot summers on the Ohio River. Painting trips in the country with his mom. A few years spent roaming the streets of Tokyo. Jed thanks his lucky stars for all these experiences, and draws on them daily to flavor his books. When Jed illustrates, he's always surprised by what happens on the next page, and he hopes his readers are having just as much fun. Jed currently lives in the Rocky Mountains of Utah with his brilliant wife and two beautiful daughters.

Gr 1-3-Ty's mom always drove him to school and walked him all the way to his classroom, but then his baby sister arrived. Now his oldest sister takes him to school and he has to walk in all by himself. But that's not all that has changed. His best friend, Joseph, is in the hospital, and his friend Lexie seems to prefer playing with Breezie. And worst of all, his mother forgot to pack him a Lunchable for the second-grade field trip to the Georgia Aquarium. When Ty wanders away from his class, he ends up in the closed penguin exhibit and manages to slip a baby penguin into his backpack. He sneaks it home and hides it in the bathtub until it is discovered by his sister Winnie. She solicits the assistance of their oldest sister to return the penguin to the aquarium. While Ty gets scolded for running off at the aquarium, he doesn't face any consequences for stealing the baby penguin. And, it's unclear how Winnie and Sandra are able to successfully return Pingy. Animated illustrations, some filling a full page, enhance this beginning chapter book. However, the book gets off to a slow start as the most exciting and interesting aspect of the story-the kidnapping of the baby penguin-doesn't occur until chapter eight. Nevertheless, this spin-off of Myracle's "Winnie Years" series (Dutton) will appeal to fans of other younger brothers like Megan McDonald's Stink Moody and Lois Lowry's Sam Krupnick.-Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, ILα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.