(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mireille Levert. When Tina smuggles a penguin out of the zoo after a school visit, she tries to keep it in her bedroom, with predictably disastrous results. The story itself is anything but predictable, however: there's much humor and zip in the lengthy but lively text and in the illustrations, richly rendered in watercolor and gouache. The surprise ending is both funny and satisfying.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano