Naturally my eye would be drawn to a book about a penguin named Tacky who wears a Hawaiian shirt. I was honestly laughing out loud during this book. Tacky's comparison to his penguin companions, appropriately named Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect is hilarious; they are polar opposites. The other penguins are shown gracefully diving into the ocean; Tacky, wearing a floaty tube, orange swim trunks, and a pink swim cap, is described as doing "splashy cannonballs.""Splashy cannonballs" is an example of what I really liked about this book: the descriptive, action-packed language. The hunters approach with "maps and traps and rocks and locks, and they were rough and tough" and they "thump...thump...thump"-ed their way toward the penguins, "penguins" at one point spelled with five n's. This kind of text would be something really interactive for kids to read. It is a text that is easy to animate vocally. When I read it, I can hear how I would read it aloud to students, switching from deep timbres for the "thumps" to the nasally, tacky voice Tacky uses to chant, "What's happenin!" I cannot wait to sit down with a child and read this text aloud.
What is awesome about Tacky, too, is that he saves the day not because he is the coolest penguin in the pack. He saves the day because he has enough strength of character to behave in the way truly depicts himself. Tacky the Penguin gives value to the outliers in the classroom, the kids who march a beat of their own. It shows that these students are special in their own ways. They can be confident in who they truly are. Tacky was, and his differences become a cause for celebration. Differences are okay. In fact, they are the basis of this nation. Hurray for Tacky.
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