Finding Autumn: Penguin and Pumpkin by Salina Yoon

IT WAS FALL AND VERY WHITE ON THE ICE, AS ALWAYS.

"I WONDER WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE OFF THE ICE?" MUSED PENGUIN.

"LET'S GO TO THE FARM AND FIND OUT!" SAID HIS BUDDY BOOTSY.

Penguin's baby brother Pumpkin clamors to go, too, but Penguin has to tell him he's still too little to travel so far.

Waving good-bye to his sad little sibling, Penguin and Bootsy hop the nearest northbound ice floe and finally arrive at the farm, where fall is in full swing. There are big pumpkins in the pumpkin patch and red, gold, and orange autumn leaves sailing through the air and covering the ground. It's gloriously colorful, but Penguin can't help thinking about poor little Pumpkin back home in the snow. Then he gets an idea.

Penguin and Bootsy pick the biggest pumpkin, carve it out to make a floating freighter, and load it up with a little pumpkin and and crate full of colored leaves. They even add a few autumn storybooks for good measure. Boarding a southbound floe, they tow their cargo back toward Penguin Land, where little Pumpkin is busy trying to imagine what Fall looks like. Is it perhaps in outer space? Are Penguin and Bootsy taking a spaceship to Planet Pumpkin? He can't wait to tell his big brother all about his own imaginative adventures.

The returned explorers are impressed at the little penguin's fantastic ideas.

"SPACE-TACULAR!" THEY SAY.

"BUT I WISH I GOT TO SEE WHAT FALL REALLY LOOKS LIKE," PUMPKIN SAID.

Penguin puts on his thinking cap. He's got a pumpkin and he's got a lot of autumn leaves. How can he re-create the farm in the fall for his little brother?

In the Penguin Queen Salina Yoon's latest South Pole story, Penguin and Pumpkin (Walker Books, 2014), Penguin uses his creativity to find a way to set his autumn leaves to blowing all over penguin country.

"FALL LOOKS LIKE... IT'S SNOWING LEAVES!"

Yoon's illustrative style, with her thick black outlines and rich autumnal colors are perfect for youngsters just learning about the seasons. Her characters, shown mostly in profile, are iconic cartoon penguins, with Penguin himself sporting an orange scarf, while Bootsy sticks to her pink hairbow and signature boots. making this unusual location for a fall story into a unique fall story for young readers. Kirkus Reviews says "Readers with a generous tolerance for quirkiness will find that this seasonal tale, that’s also a bit about little brothers, adventures and the endless diversity of pumpkins, hits the spot."

Salina Yoon's other Penguin books include Penguin and Pinecone, Penguin on Vacation, and Penguin in Love.