Diary of a Penguin-napper by Sally Harris

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 April 25th is considered World Penguin Day, who knew?  Not I,  but I did happen to be reading this lovely little book, Diary of a Penguin-napper so in my own way I must have been celebrating those adorable fluffy cute penguins.    The last book I read with penguins in the story was Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater. Who doesn't love penguins?  They are featured  in such films as Madagascar and The Pebble and the Penguin.  There just so cute and adorable.  

Diary of a Penguin-napper  begins with Marty sitting on a couch waiting for the police to arrive.  His mother has just discovered that the missing penguin from the zoo has been hidden in their upstairs bathroom by none other then her son.  Thinking it is the right thing to do, Marty's mom calls the police to turn him in.  As the police arrive and interrogate him, Marty slowly begins to tell the story of how he came in possession of the stolen penguin and why.   I think by having the police interrogate Marty it naturally leads into the details of the heist and why stealing a penguin was so important to him in the first place (for love of course).  I especially liked this technique.   I don't think I am giving to much away by saying all that.  The title kinda says it all.  The "trouble one little penguin can cause" well that is what makes the story so engaging.  That and the fact that Sally Harris seems to have a knack for capturing the voice of middle grader Marty very nicely.  Diary of a Penguin-napper also includes some hilarious illustrated diary entry pages which are both amusing and add beautifully to the story.  Overall, I really loved this book.  My hope is that Sally Harris will write some more fun stories about Marty and his friend Turds.  I can  just see them getting into all kinds of trouble and having further fun adventures together.  My review ebook was featured on March MG Madness at http://www.wordspelunking.blogspot.com and was a giveaway from the author Sally Harris.  I big thank you to both.