Turtle's Penguin Day
Written by Valeri Gorbachev

Little Turtle is so captivated by a bedtime story about penguins that the next morning he decides to be a penguin for the day. He makes a costume that he wears to school and takes his penguin book. His classmates are intrigued by his outfit and, with their teacher's help, spend the day sliding, dancing, waddling and learning about all things penguin. His enthusiasm for penguins lasts all day until father penguin's next bedtime story which is about monkeys.

Biographical Sketch:

Valeri Gorbachev first became well-known for his beautifully illustrated children's books. In the past few years he has begun writing as well as illustrating his own books. He immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine in 1991. He currently resides with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

Suggested Activities:

  1. Research different kinds of penguins and/or turtles. What do the members of each group have in common? How are they different?
  2. Penguin matching game. Print two copies of pictures of different types of penguins (one source: http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/penguins/photos.htm) and glue on sturdy cardstock or oak tag paper. Cut the pictures apart. Turn the pictures upside down. Mix them up. Have students take turns trying to match pairs of penguins.
  3. Chart heights of different types of penguins. Chart heights of different students in class. How do the heights of the different kids compare to the heights of different types of penguins?
  4. Many types of turtles and penguins are threatened, endangered, or already extinct. Research the difference between these three terms. For older students the research could be extended to determine what animals in their region fall into these categories and what might be done to help them.
  5. Read companion book Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin, Jr. Invite the students to make masks of different types of animals and spend part of the day walking, playing, talking, and generally acting like that animal. Later discuss what the advantages/disadvantages are for each type of animal.
  6. Play a variation on the Farmer in the Dell with children. They can reuse the masks that they made for activity 5 for this game. For example: "The turtle in the sea, the turtle in the sea, Hi ho, the dairy-o, the turtle in the sea. The turtle takes the dog... "
  7. Look up the average weights of a variety of penguin species. Determine the average weight of all penguins.  Have the children estimate how many penguins it would take to balance a scale with the largest recorded leatherback sea turtle (2,019 pounds, or 878 kilograms). Then do the actual math to determine how many penguins would actually be needed. This may be extended by having them convert from pounds to kilograms.

Companion Books:

Arnosky, Jim. All About Turtles. Scholastic. 2000.
Bourgeois, Paulette. Franklin the Turtle Series. Scholastic.
Fridell, Ron. Life Cycle of a --Turtle. Heinemann. 2001.
Lester, Helen. Tacky the Penguin Series. Sandpiper.
Magloff, Lisa.  Penguin. DK Publishing. 2004.
Martin, Bill. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you See? Henry Holt and Co. 1991.
McMillan, Bruce. Penguins at Home: Gentoos of Antarctica. Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
Trumbauer, Lisa. The Life Cycle of a Penguin. Pebble Books. 2003.

Books written and illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev:
Christopher Counting. Philomel, 2008.
The Missing Chick. Candlewick, 2009.
Molly who Flew Away. Philomel, 2009.
Red, Red, Red. Philomel, 2007.
That's What Friends are For. Philomel, 2005.

Books illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev:
Horning, Sandra. The Giant Hug. Knopf, 2005.
Newman, L. Skunk's Spring Surprise. Harcourt Children's Books, 2007.
Roth, Carol. Little Bunny's Sleepless Night. North-South Books. 2009.
Sierra, J. Silly and Sillier: Read Aloud tales from Around the World. Knopf, 2002.
Steigemeyer, J. Gobble, Gobble, Crash! A Barnyard Counting Bash. Dutton, 2008.

Websites:

http://207.56.201.131/turtles/index.html   An "all about turtles" site sponsored by the Gulf of Maine Aquarium, this site includes general information about turtles and their habitats as well as kid-oriented turtle games and activities.

http://42explore.com/turtle.htm   This site includes general information about turtles as well as a long list of other sites about turtles.

http://akidsheart.com/animals/birds/penguins.htm  This site has a list with a variety of children's penguin activities.

http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/penguins/index.htm. KidZone site about penguins with lots of photos, activities.