Review Detail

THE ADVENTURES OF PENGUIN AND PANDA: SURPRISE! is a delightful graphic novel about friendship. The book is divided into chapters that read like short stories as Penguin and Panda spend time together. They may be quite different, but they make the best of friends.

What I loved: This is a colorful and charming graphic novel that is great for early independent readers. The book uses simple phrases and short sentences to convey sweet stories about these two friends. Short speech bubbles are clearly attributed to each character, and the pictures can help children to figure out words when they stumble. The font is exclusively uppercase which helps with clarity and quick recognition.

The images are fantastic and quite expressive. This graphic novel definitely uses the pictures to tell the story and it is easy to follow from panel to panel. The stories themselves are light, sweet, and full of silliness and charming friendship anecdotes. Penguin and Panda are supportive of each other and try to help where needed. The conflicts are small and make this a positive and happy read throughout. Backmatter includes facts about the animals and how-to drawing steps.

Final verdict: THE ADVENTURES OF PENGUIN AND PANDA: SURPRISE! is a charming graphic novel that combines colorful and expressive illustrations with simple text to delight young independent readers. Recommend for elementary school aged readers.