Books we love: 365 Penguins

The point of "Books we love" is to share some of the books that we--James, Lulu, and I--are enjoying together as a family. But I feel like I must say that although Lu likes 365 Penguins a lot, the book's true fans in our household are the adults. Which is really saying something, because 11 months in, story time is either us slogging through a book we have read one million times before, or else devolves into a pedantic argument about some irrelevant detail in the story (For instance, what is going on with the old, vine-covered house in Madeline? It's a boarding school, right? Or is it an orphanage? Or some kind of reform institution?)

But 365 Penguins, we are always happy to read. The oversized picture book features quirky, three-color drawings by Joelle Jolivet and Jean-Luc Fromental's story of a family that receives one penguin by mail every day for a year. As the penguins pile up, Mom, Dad, brother, and sister must use math to solve the problem of feeding, housing, and caring for their new housemates. On New Years Eve, the family finally solves the mystery of who is sending the penguins, and learns a lesson about global warming and habitat preservation, to boot.


Fromental and Jolivet have written several books together, but their penguin story is by far the most popular, having been translated into German, Spanish, and Italian (in addition to English and the creators' native French) and even spawning a cute Advent calendar. Fromental has also penned more than 30 graphic novels for adults, which I'm eager to get my hands on, if only to see if this kind of wry humor shines through his other works.


Kwak, kwak! We love this book.