Penguin Sets Sail, by Jessica Linn Evans | Dedicated Review

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The Children’s Book Review | March 11, 2020

Penguin Sets Sail 

Written and Illustrated by Jessica Linn Evans 

Age Range: 3+ 

Hardcover: 32 pages 

Publisher: Rainstorm Publishing (March 1, 2020)

ISBN-13: 978-1628857382

What to expect: Penguin, Friendship, Home, Adventure 

Penguin Sets Sail is a wordless picture book that takes readers on an adventure-filled journey in which a penguin travels the high seas and discovers the importance of family, friendship, and home. 

All of the penguins think only of fish, that is, all except for one paper-hat-wearing and book-carrying penguin whose curiosity surrounding a washed-up paddle boat leads him on a great adventure. After Penguin repairs the boat and sets off into the vast blue ocean, paddling past dark cliffs, flowing waterfalls, and a lighthouse perched at the end of a craggy headland, he spots a rabbit with a spyglass. Rabbit boards the boat and they paddle together until they meet a raccoon with a compass. The three companions continue their travels and brave a wild storm that capsizes their vessel. When they paddle safely to a beach, they share their wild story with a flock of gulls. With the adventure of a lifetime behind them, Penguin dreams of more worldwide travels. That is until a special moment has the new friends returning home to their families.

The illustrations, rendered with watercolor and black ink, are an enticing blend of comic panels, speech and thought bubbles, and impressive full-page scenes. The artwork offers varied perspectives—closeups and aerial views—providing the readers with both intimacy among friends and the expansive nature of the world. Readers can see a world in which you could easily become lost without the connections of friends, family, and having a home in which to return.

The pleasing sequencing in Penguin Sets Sail will have children readily interpreting the pictures, making connections to the story and the characters. This picture book is an excellent choice for any young storyteller or storytime listener.

Buy the Book

Also available directly from canonpress.com

About the Illustrator

Jessica Linn Evans is an author-illustrator SCBWI member. All her illustrations are rendered with traditional mediums: watercolor, graphite, and ink.

Her first wordless picture book, Penguin Sets Sail comes out in April of 2020 from Canonball Books. She has also illustrated Waiting Through Winter by Jason Farley (Jovial Press, 2015), Little Mouse Finds a Friend (Jovial Press, 2017), and Solar the Polar by Kim Constntinesco  (MacLaren-Cochrane, 2017).

Jessica is an elementary art teacher, a school librarian, and a high school volleyball coach. She lives in the beautiful state of Idaho with her husband, her four delightful children, and a bunny named Bucky.

For more information, visit: https://jessicalinnevans.com/

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