I know, I know. There are a lot of penguin picture books out there. Nevertheless, here is the opening to PENGUIN vs. SUMMER, written by Yoshi (my eldest) and illustrated by Mika (my youngest).
Yoshi’s words:
Once there was a penguin who loved to read the weather section of the Daily Iceberg newspaper, but one day the headline read: “Today 40 Degrees Celsius! Heat Wave in the Arctic!”
When he looked out the window he saw penguins of all sorts running around screaming like crazy…
And Mika’s picture:
“But will the penguins be okay?” I asked Yoshi (noting Mika’s worried face).
“I’m not sure,” replied Yoshi (relishing his godly writer powers).
It is clear that Mika is hoping for some anti-climate change hero to swoop in and save the day but Yoshi isn’t ready to commit to a happy ending. (Given their recent push-pull dynamic I won’t be surprised if Yoshi ends up writing a dystopian penguin thriller. Of course, it’ll still have Mika’s bright yellow, blithely cheerful sun…)
