Helen Lester

A month or two ago Alex came home from school with loads of penguin knowledge. His class studied them for a week. One of the books they read during that time was "Tacky the Penguin." I got to read it one day when I volunteered in his class. It was pretty funny. Tacky lives up to his name - he's just not as polished or well-behaved as his debonair iceberg-mates. Luckily (at least for some members of the household) the author has written many Tacky books: "Tacky and the Emperor," "Tacky in Trouble," "Tacky and the Winter Games," "Tackylocks and the Three Bears," "Tacky Goes to Camp," etc. If anyone in your house likes penguins and silliness, Tacky may be for you. As the end of most of the books goes, he's an odd bird but a nice bird to have around.