This is a short list of penguin books. From experience in early childhood classrooms, I can confidently say that children love to read and learn about penguins. Maybe it’s the way they look, the way they communicate, their abilities, or the fact that they are birds, but only fly through the water…who knows? But I couldn’t resist doing a roundup of penguin books!

These books are listed in no certain order and this post contains affiliate links.

Five Penguin Books

Playful Little Penguins by Tony Mitton and Illustration by Guy Parker-Rees

A joyful book full of action, Playful Little Penguins shares common things penguins do together, like eat, toboggan, and waddle. But when these little penguins come in contact with a seal pup and its mother, will this story follow the food chain or will all the penguins return to the huddle to cuddle?

Turtle’s Penguin Day by Valeri Gorbachev

After bedtime stories with Father Turtle, Little Turtle’s imagination runs wild through his dreams. After a night of dreaming he’s a penguin, Little Turtle finds the perfect way to transform himself into a penguin. His classmates are so excited that his teacher decides to make the day “Penguin Day!” Following the information found in a book about penguins, Little Turtle and his classmates spend their day pretending to be penguins. They toboggan, slide, waddle, pass eggs with their feet, and learn as they play! After a dinner of fish crackers, Father Turtle reads Little Turtle a book about monkeys. Uh-oh! What will happen tomorrow?

Penguin Pete by Marcus Pfister

Pete is the youngest penguin in his colony…and he’s pint-sized. He longs to be bigger like the adults so he can do more. In the meantime, he slides around, builds snow penguins, and has an interesting relationship with a tiny bird, Steve. During the short time that Steve’s flock is visiting, Pete tries as hard as he can to fly and land gracefully. When Steve leaves, Pete’s finally allowed to dive in the sea and fish for the first time! What will he think of this experience he’s waited so long to have? Will he feel like one of the big kids now?

Pink! by Lynne Rickards and Illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain

One morning Patrick wakes up to find he’s turned pink. His doctor is at a loss. His mother says everyone won’t care after awhile. But Patrick is a boy and he doesn’t want to be pink and he doesn’t want his friends to make fun of him. After learning that flamingos are pink and some of them are even boys, Patrick heads out on his own adventure. He takes a long trip to Africa and finds himself among the flamingos. He tries everything they do until they fly away and he’s left all alone. Will Patrick stay and wait for their return, or will he head home and embrace his new color?

Penguin Chick by Betty Tatham and Illustrated by Helen K. Davie

This is the most nonfictional book on the list, but it’s written in a way that even young students can learn new vocabulary and scientific facts about penguins, their behaviors, and habitat. The back of the book tells readers about five different kinds of penguins and offers activities for kids to try.

If you like this post, you may also like my list of Ocean Books. You may also like these preschool penguin activities from Kids Soup.

What is your favorite thing about penguins?