Perky Little Penguins

Mitton and Parker-Rees have already discovered a winning formula in earlier picturebooks, which combine humorous and lively narrative poetry with energetic, funny illustration.

Their latest book is awash with cartoon-like tiny penguins in hats and scarves enjoying themselves in the snow, until they discover a seal pup who has lost his mum, so they comfort and entertain him until she returns for him.

A superbly comforting story for young readers subtly cocooned within an entertaining and endearing look at where and how penguins live.

The seals pictured look more like Northern Hemisphere commons than Antarctic Weddels, but it's unlikely that young readers will spot the anomaly, and will instead concentrate on enjoying and joining in with the catchy rhyming text.