“Chilly da Vinci” was unique and fun. I loved the illustrations and the fact that it was based on a real person.

The illustrations in this book are amazing! The story of Chilly da Vinci is a little cheesy but endearing, nonetheless. This would be a great book to recommend to STEM and STEAM teachers and would go great with lessons on perseverance and inventions. Kids might not get the play on words, but they will enjoy the humor, characters, and the overall story.

While I loved this book and thought it was adorable, I would definitely not recommend reading it on the kindle. But the illustrations were awesome and the story enjoyable.

Chilly is a penguin with a knack for designing machines, like his last namesake. He’s got a ton of self-doubt, which is no surprise considering his contraptions are always failing. He’s also pretty clueless in the way of many scientists: “Why does he feel the need to throw sea junk at me? He’s wasting supplies.” It’s easy to tell because the story is told diary-style; the artwork adds to this by being in the color and style of an old yellowing journal. He’s got a loud doubter but also fans, as one young glasses-wearing penguin wants him to sign his flipper.
It’s a bit weird seeing all this technology, albeit steampunk-looking rather than modern, amongst the penguins and white Antarctic landscape.
“It’s official: my flying machines stink like rotten orca blubber in the midday sun.”
“My pullets didn’t pulley. My engine didn’t engine.”
My favorite of his inventions has to be the night-vision goggles.
This is listed as children’s fiction, but it feels like it’s reaching for an older audience.

ARC Copy...very humorous-penguin take on Leonardo Da Vinci (who really was inventive-creative minded but...plans didn't always work out) and liken the theme of no matter how plans turn (or there is a hungry predator after your crew) keep on trying-improving plans.

Chilly Da Vinci is a cute book about an inventor penguin. Stuck on an iceberg with other penguins, Chilly tries to come up with inventions to get them back home to their larger iceberg. Despite numerous failures he keeps on trying and in the end succeeds in saving them all. A great book for teaching kids about perseverance. I loved the illustrations.

Oh, Chilly da Vinci! What an adorable and fun book! The illustrations alone made this children's book a winner in my books. Unique and colorful, the illustrations were honestly stunning, and I could stare at them all day. The story on the other hand, was a tad confusing, though that may have been how it downloaded on my device. I think it'll be worth it to check it out once printed.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!

Chilly is a unique penguin because instead of focusing on penguin tasks like diving for fish, he’s obsessed with his inventions. While some of his inventions end in disaster, a few work remarkably well. His fellow penguins talk down to him but Chilly doesn’t listen. In fact, when the penguins are stranded by an orca, Chilly saves them using one of his inventions.

This is such a delightful story about a penguin and his insatiable curiosity to create new inventions. Inspiring for children, it teaches (through a character relatable to all) to never give up on your dreams and aspirations. Failure is nothing more than a bump in the ice to victory.

The illustrations are reminiscent to Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings yet at the same time vibrant and eye-catching. Chilly and his friends are expressive in the artwork.

The only thing I didn’t care for was the one part of the story that seemed to repeat itself. Maybe it was an ARC error but it was distracting.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in the hopes I’d review it.

My Rating: 4 stars


Note to the publisher: I posted this review to Goodreads but will post my review on my website and retailers on release day (12/4/18) . Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review it.

This was a creative and cute book for younger readers. It is about an inventor penguin based on Leonardo da Vinci, he likes to make things and in this book he gets some other penguins into a bit of a mess and has to figure out a way to help them. The pictures are a lot of fun but might be harder for younger readers to follow - there are some diagrams and blueprint looking pages. These are very fun to look at but could be difficult to explain as a parent reading to a child.

Either way a penguin inventor is a fun thing to read about and the story was imaginative and entertaining. I think kids will have a lot of questions and learn a lot.

Review link will be live on 11/27/2018

3.5/5 This is the story of a little penguin who likes to invent things. The illustrations in this book are cute and really fun to look at. The writing was a bit clunky and could stand to be rewritten in some parts. For example, there's a line that says the "engine didn't engine." Some kids may find this funny; others confusing. There were other times when the vocabulary used seem to be aimed at a higher age level than this book is intended for.

The story begins when one of his inventions breaks the ice which takes them away from their colony. So, he has to figure out another creation to survive his original error. One of the other penguins named Vinnie thinks lowly of him and his inventions.



The artwork looks fun and is the best part of the story.

One noticeable annoyance of this is they call the Orca, Orca then later it's Plumpy Fin. "Did I mention it wouldn't move anyway if it had to drag Mr. Plumpy Fin?" is when it's first used. This sentence for me doesn't make sense even without the nickname Chilly gave the Killer Whale.



Younger kids may not understand Leonardo da Vinci/Chilly da Vinci connection. But it can be a book for a lesson around him -- maybe kids can see the connection then.



For some reason he has a bully named Vinnie. But while Chilly knows he makes fun of him and isn't supportive of him. Chilly continues to imagine the other penguins thinking of him as cool or a sort of celebrity figure for his creations.



One point he's flung by the Orca and he comments, "I did not become whale poop. I need a break." Which personally thought was funny.



Recommend?: Yes. It would be a good supplement in lessons about perseverance, making plans or learning about Leonardo da Vinci.

The art for this book is absolutely amazing and adorable. Unfortunately, there was something incredibly wrong with the page order. It seemed like there was more than one title page in the mix, which made things even more confusing. I couldn’t tell if this was supposed to be multiple short stories or not. I’m pretty sure it’s only supposed to be one story though. This needs to be fixed before publication.

Cute story about another one of Chilly's inventions not working. Beautiful illustrations. Too bad kindle is black and white.

This book was a little confusing for me and I think the main problem stemmed from the fact that it seemed to download completely out of order. Never-the-less, after reading it several times and trying to understand the general plot and outline, my son and I still had a hard time figuring out what it was really about. Even imagining it in order, it still didn't really make sense, which was disappointing. My son loves penguins and he loves inventing things so I thought this would be a natural fit. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for us. I will say that the illustrations in this book are really beautiful. If they had been coupled with a stronger storyline I think the book would have knocked it out of the park.

Love it! Little inventors and future inventors should be inspired by this short book! Chilly is quite the penguin! There is just enough suspense from the orca nibbling their ice sheet for the littles to cheer Chilli on. Great story and the illustrations are fun to look at.

Chilly is a little penguin who builds machines that don't always work. Chilly is also depicted in the cutest way possible that a penguin could be. The other penguins feel that Chilly isn't being such a great penguin because he's very different and un-penguin-like

"My brain is full of seawater, and my sketchbook is full of goof-ups."

Chilly doubts himself like any penguin would, but he's trying his best to get a group of penguins stranded on an iceberg back home to their colony, Vinci. But there's a massive orca, called Plumpy Fin, swimming in their way and hungry for some penguin.


This is a cute little comic about carrying on with your grand and quirky ideas, despite what others say.

I'm constantly on the lookout for good children's books for my speech therapy sessions. I think Chilly is a sweet and inspiring little book, but isn't genre-defying like This Is a Taco! by Andrew Cangelose. Although the art-style is vibrant and attractive and I'd definitely love to read more from the author and artist.

This is a great book - the artwork is wonderful and the story is one of adventure that many children are sure to enjoy, as well as the people reading the book to them. The penguin tries many different things, even when is not encouraged by his penguin family.

Loved this adorable story! I love the historically similar character teaching the never give up lesson.

Chilly da Vinci is not your normal everyday penguin. He is an inventor. The only problem is, like most inventors, not all his inventions work the way he hopes. When one of them sends him and his friends floating on a large chunk of ice in the sea with a hungry orca nearby, he frantically tries to find a way to get them safely home. Throughout the book there are sketches of his inventions done on the yellow paper with faded lead similar to what you find in books about Leonardo da Vinci. The book shows those young inventors out there that it is okay to have an unsuccessful invention, but it does not mean that you should give up trying. A cute little book. The penguins however, don't look a lot like any penguin I have seen.

This was a fun story about young penguin Chilly da Vinci who loves inventing machines. The only problem is... most don't work. When one of his inventions separates Chilly and his friends from their home, he must use quick thinking to get them safely off the drifting iceberg being gobbled up by an orca.
Humor and vivid illustrations (including some in the style of Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci's inventions) will capture the attention of young readers and the important message of problem solving, persistence, and imagination make this an enjoyable read for adults as well.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for offering an ARC to review.