ALA Booklist (Tue Jan 03 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Augustine the penguin and her family live in a house at the South Pole. When Father takes a job at the North Pole, they pack up, board a plane, and move to their new home. Though Augustine is nervous about entering a different school and shy about meeting her classmates, everyone is so intrigued by her drawings and paintings that she quickly makes friends. Page layout is unusual, with nine little illustrations in squares on the left-hand pages, and one picture accompanying the text on the right. On each spread, one square shows a famous painting, drawn in Augustine's simplified style and related to something on the facing page. For instance, his rendering of Van Gogh's The Bedroom bears an uncanny resemblance to Augustine's own room, pictured on the right. The paintings are identified on the last page. Watt's distinctive, vividly colored illustrations create eye-catching effects. This book has great classroom potential as a lead-in to famous painters, from Leonardo da Vinci to Andy Warhol.

Horn Book (Tue Jan 03 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Penguin Augustine is nervous about her family's move to the North Pole, and her narration amounts to what adults believe children in her circumstance are feeling ("I wish I could turn back time and be in the South Pole with my friends"). The satisfying acrylic and pencil–crayon art features just-for-those-in-the-know winks, including anxious Augustine's self-portrait as Edvard Munch's famous screamer.

Kirkus Reviews (Tue Jan 03 00:00:00 CST 2023)

A love of art eases the anxiety of a young penguin moving from the South to the North Pole. Little Augustine (who's named after painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir) is filled with apprehension over an impending move to the opposite end of the Earth. A handful of (illustrated) thoughts accompanies each leg of the journey. At first, she's shy at her new school. When she begins to share her artwork with the other animals, though, she's welcomed as a friend, and they help her put on an art show. Ingenious design enhances the work's appeal, and provides a terrific teaching opportunity: Each two-page spread features a tic-tac-toe board of nine illustrations on the left, the middle one drawn by Augustine and referencing a famous work of art. There are 14 in all, from Leonardo to Warhol, with van Gogh, Monet, Magritte and others in between. A half-page story illustration with a block of text faces the art on the right. Watt's illustrations, in acrylic and pencil crayons, far outclass her serviceable prose; still, this is a little treasure. (Picture book. 4-8)

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

Readers will hop on board for this polar tale, which also serves as a subtle art history introduction. Artistic Augustine, an adorable, blue fuzz-covered penguin (named after Pierre-Auguste Renoir), must leave the South Pole when her father gets a new job at the North Pole. Her straightforward first-person account of the move reflects her mixed emotions. "I'm going to miss my room.... When it's time to say good-bye, I feel sad." In a format that invites lingering, the left side of each spread contains nine vignettes, separated into box-like panels, relating to the action on the facing page. The center of the grid always features one of Augustine's drawings, a penguin-esque take-off of a famous painting. For example, when Augustine gets "cold feet" about attending a new school, she draws a penguin mimicking Edvard Munch's <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Scream. In another spread, portraits of her Arctic classmates frame one that Augustine sketched of her new teacher, a long-eared, coyly smiling rabbit (à la the <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Mona Lisa). Plays on words frequently punctuate the narrative. For instance, the heroine calls a lonely time on the playground, drawing with only her blue pencil, her "Blue Recess Period." Watt's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Scaredy Squirrel) pencil crayon and acrylic illustrations will likely win over young audiences, while her clever art references may well engage older readers (she lists all the masterpieces from which Augustine draws inspiration at the end). Ages 3-7. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

School Library Journal (Tue Jan 03 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Gr 2 Up-Augustine is a South Pole penguin whose family is relocating to the North Pole. Named after Pierre-Auguste Renoir, she loves to draw. She is apparently inspired by Magritte, Monet, Munch, Picasso, and Renoir, and the book is illustrated with snippets of her interpretations of their work. While the little bird and her family seem to enjoy their new home, Augustine is shy in school and worries about making friends. But her artwork breaks the ice, and she comfortably adjusts to her new environment. This is a useful attempt to introduce children to art and to dealing with changes in their lives, but there might be a bit too much going on here. The acrylic-and-pencil artwork is naturally childlike, an effective touch. However, penguins do not live in the North Pole, so even though this fictional introduction to art is somewhat well done, the basis of the story is unsettling. Overall, this picture book may be too ambitious.-Andrea Tarr, Corona Public Library, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.