Horn Book

Eager to avoid her first swimming lesson in "the cold, dark sea," penguin Pip decides she'd rather learn how to fly. After two failed attempts at soaring through the sky, Pip accidentally lands in the water where a new friend shows her the glories of gliding. Chapman's illustrations showcase the ocean milieu. Occasional singsongy verses enliven the bland text.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Pip, the adorable penguin with the ocean-blue plumage, makes an observation: she has “wings” and she's a bird, so she should be able to fly. With the advice of a supportive snow petrel and a rhyming flight song—“Pick up your feet, run down the shore./ Flap your wings and flap some more”—she runs, flaps and leaps, only to land in the sand. A giant albatross also tries to help, but when Pip lands in the water, she discovers, “Swimming is flying!” Pip's determination and exuberance will easily endear readers to the spirited heroine. Ages 3–7. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

School Library Journal (Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

PreS-K In this companion to Where Is Home, Little Pip? (S & S, 2008), readers are reacquainted with the small penguin on the day she is supposed to learn to swim. She is a frightened and unwilling participant in the lesson. Pip asks the Snow Petrel and the Giant Albatross if they would show her how to fly, but because they are different types of birds, their suggestions are not helpful. Finally, she soldiers on toward a successful conclusion. Deliciously cool watercolor endpapers in shades of aqua carry over into the large acrylic illustrations enhancing the text. The font is an effective sizelarge for Pip's announcement, "I want to fly," yet tiny when she whispers back to her parents, "I still just want to fly." Rhyming couplets vary the narrative by presenting occasional four-line poems as a song. Children will be reassured that their fear of trying something new is universal and can have a happy ending. Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA