Sandra Markle brings nonfiction to life. The Great Penguin Rescue is sure to find a wide audience as both text and photos engage readers.

Personally, I'm a sucker for pretty much any penguin book. I knew very little about African penguins so this was right up my alley. It's a solid piece of non-fiction. Facts are relayed in a clear and concise manner, the perfect blend of readable vocabulary and conversational tone without ever becoming condescending. We've got history, animal biology, sociology, and ecology all in one book, entirely supported by engaging and well-framed photos. A great choice, even for very young readers.

I was so happy to get selected to preview this book because I am a big fan of Sandra Markle's series "What if You Had Animal..." in my preschool science classroom.

I was immediately drawn to the beautiful photographs in the book The Great Penguin Rescue, a necessity in nonfiction for younger learners, in my opinion. For preschoolers, this book is far too wordy but could be easily adapted because the captions contain enough factual information and are short enough to keep their attention. Additionally, other nonfiction text features like the glossary and references give my students an opportunity to delve deeper, both in a literary sense as well as factual. I absolutely would use this book during my Penguins science lesson!

Thank you to the author, Sandra Markle, the publisher and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this book.

The Great Penguin Rescue: Saving the African Penguins by Sandra Markle is currently scheduled for release on September 1 2017. The most recent addition to Markle's books about animals at risk focuses on the African penguins, which waddle around nesting colonies in lower numbers than ever before. Despite South African government efforts to protect the penguin colonies and their ocean fish supply, young penguins still struggle to survive. Fuzzy chicks waiting for food in open nests may overheat in the sun or become prey. Others simply may not get enough food to survive on their own once their parents leave. But new conservation methods, including rescuing and hand-feeding vulnerable chicks, are giving experts hope. Can volunteers and scientists help save Africa's only penguins before it's too late?

The Great Penguin Rescue is a well researched and written non fiction book for children. Markle has included full color photographs, information that is interesting and accessible, and opportunities for readers of all ages to continue their own research on the topic. I expected nothing less, following the other books of hers that I have read about creatures that are endangered around the world. I like that she shows has natural and man made problems effect the world, and these penguins in particular, but does not stop there. Readers also get a look at the steps that have been taken in order to help the population of the African Penguins grow and thrive, as well as things that are in the works for the future. I believe Markle strikes a good balance between bringing awareness to the serious problems people have had a hand in, and offering hope and encouragement for the future.

The Great Penguin Rescue is a great read for any reader that loves animals, cares about the environment, or wants to learn more about efforts people are making to help endangered animals. I recommend checking out all of Markle's books, so do not stop here.

This is a terrific non fiction picture book about the endangered African penguins (who even knew there were Africa penguins?). The text is strong and clear. The pictures are very engaging and the story is so interesting. I can't wait to get this one into my library.

The Great Penguin Rescue: Saving the African Penguins, by Sandra Markle is an intriguing and informative book that features the plight and struggles of the African penguins.

According to page two: "African penguins are in peril. Millions of these penguins used to breed on islands off southern Africa. But over time, human activities interfered with the penguins' nesting colonies and ocean hunting grounds. The result was a dangerous drop in the African penguin population, as adults struggled to find enough food and keep chicks safe. Even as alarmed scientists worked with the South African government to protect the penguin colonies and food supply, the population continued to fall. Now volunteers and scientists are working together to rescue chicks and raise the survival rate. Through innovative new efforts, they're creating a hopeful future for these penguins, one fluffy chick at a time."

Some of the full-color photographs of these penguins are simply adorable, and there are maps and graphics in this very interesting and informative book that provides a wonderful way to learn. This book is divided into the following chapters: Alone, Penguins in Trouble, From Bad to Worse, Turning Point, Raising the Future, Giving Hope a Home, Rescued, and Saving Other Penguins, as well as Author's Note, Did You Know, Timeline, Source Notes, and Glossary.

The Great Penguin Rescue is a forty-eight page non-fiction book that's geared toward children, particularly fourth to seventh grades.



Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

An interesting and educational look at what is happening to the african penguin. A great resource for libraries, schools, and others.

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Another solid title from Sandra Markle. This installment is about the plight of African Penguins and efforts to rescue them. Solid research and writing and students will enjoy it.

Excellent resource for the age range with great photography.

African penguins have been on the decline for several centuries. Sandra Markle explains how and why that happened, and what people are now doing to try and bring these penguins’ numbers back up.

I may be a teensy bit biased because I adore all things penguin, but I thought this was excellently done. Markle’s very readable and engaging text is accompanied by lots and lots of wonderful penguin photos. And not just average penguin photos, they were not only cute and funny, but in-the-midst-of-action the text is talking about photos that really help suck readers in even further. The photos actually take up most of the page, which may have made distinguishing the text from the photo captions hard but the designer solved that by having the main text always framed by a sky blue box with a line extending to the next bunch of text. It’s a tactic I’ve not seen outside of graphic novels, but it works really well. The color choice is good too, because even color blind readers should be able to distinguish the blue. It is evident a lot of thought was put into this unique set up. I hope others notice and start employing the same tactic. There are fascinating information boxes every once in a while with a yellow background, and more info in the back of the book for those who haven’t had enough penguin facts yet. I haven’t even gotten to touch on the main topics yet. I learned a lot from Markle’s history of the decline in the African penguin population. Even more fascinating perhaps were all the intervention methods they tried and I would have thought would have made an impact on helping the penguin population grow but didn’t. What has been working is surprisingly simple. It’s a great real life example of the scientific method, and not giving up after failures. It was inspirational to learn about all the people working to help these penguins both in the past and currently. So hand this to readers who are learning about the scientific method. Hand this to readers interested in the environment and animal habitats. If you’re looking for an engaging nonfiction read for elementary or middle school, snatch this up. And of course, hand it to those animal lovers who can’t get enough penguins in their lives. I’ll be recommending this to our elementary library and will consider purchasing a copy for middle school too.

(Note: This book will be featured on a New Book Preview on Aug 1 on my blog at the link below.)

An excellent, excellent, resource that I will reference in the future when dealing with penguins.

PENGUINS! If you have a younger patron who loves penguins, wildlife, and nature conservancy, then this book is for you. First of all: penguin pictures. Lots of them. Penguin pictures are definitely a plus. Also, there are penguins in Africa? Yup, there are, and they needed a little help here recently.

Most importantly though: penguins. PENGUINS!!

In this well-written and well-illustrated book about saving endangered animals,, author Sandra Markel explains the efforts of scientists and citizens to save African penguins. Middle-grade readers get an up-close look at current efforts and an explanation of why these efforts are so important. An author's note explains her commitment to this cause. A fine title for reading and sharing.

What a great book with a happy outcome for one of the many endangered animals in the world. The Animal Rescue Series by Sandra Markle is a wonderful way to learn about endangered species and what is being done to save them. I must say that I had never heard of the African Penguin before, so this book was quite enlightening.

The African Penguin became endangered due to changes in their habitat (harvesting guano), harvesting of their eggs as well as a dangerous oil spill. Commercial fishing off the coast of South Africa also cut into their diet and forced them to travel further to eat, which they were not able to do. Governments made it illegal to harvest guano and collect penguin eggs, but it was still done illegally. As Scientists rescued abandoned eggs and abandoned chicks, they were able to raise them and release them in the wild. The oil spill of the MV Treasure could have been a worse tragedy for the penguins if not for the quick actions of several bird rescue organizations. With the protection of the nesting grounds, the restrictions on fishing during the breeding season and the rescue of eggs and chicks, the population is slowly increasing. This is a great book for older children to read to learn about an endangered animal and what conservation groups are doing to try and protect them. There are sections at the back with resources for further study, Did you know, timeline and a glossary. The photos in the book are beautiful and taken in the penguin's natural habitat. A great book for any school library.