In this idiosyncratic story about global warming, a family is surprised when a penguin is delivered anonymously. By year’s end, 365 penguins have arrived. The blue, orange, black, and white illustrations on oversized pages show the family coping as the uninvited guests take over their home and everyday lives. The text includes the arithmetic used in working out the food required and how best to store the penguins. When Uncle Victor, an ecologist, arrives, he explains that it was his way of sending the endangered penguins from their diminishing territory in the South Pole to the North Pole. Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Honor Award, 2007. hc

From the amazing success of the documentary March of the Penguins to the popular penguins in Madagascar to this fall's upcoming penguin-themed movie Happy Feet, penguins are everywhere! That's especially true for the family in 365 Penguins, who find a penguin mysteriously delivered to their door every day for a year. At first they're cute, but with every passing day, the penguins pile up--along with the family's problems. Feeding, cleaning, and housing the penguins becomes a monumental task. They're noisy and smelly, and they always hog the bathroom! And who on earth is sending these kwaking critters? In a large format, and with lots of opportunity for counting, 365 Penguins is sure to become a perennial wintertime favorite.