Author and Illustrator: Paul Geraghty
Ages: 4+
When you look at the book you might almost mistake it for an educational one about life in the Antarctic. With original photographs. That is how vivid and detailed the pictures and the story look.
Solo is a very beautifully illustrated book about the life of an Emperor penguin family and its struggle for survival in an almost uninhabitable corner of the Earth. Mum Floe, after being back from the sea, finds her soulmate Fin and gives birth to Solo - still inside the egg, and then makes it back to sea to travel hundreds of miles to get food for her yet-to-be-born chick. Daddy Fin then gets ready for the toughest ordeal of going without food for months together and huddling close with the penguins in the rookery to keep himself and the newly hatched chick Solo warm. And alive.
After what seems like ages, Floe returns and takes charge of Solo while Fin finally gets his chance to venture out to sea and have some food and get some for Solo. But time moves on and while other daddies return, there is no sign of Fin. Floe realizes she must leave Solo alone and go herself to get some food, or Solo would starve away. She makes that toughest decision of leaving Solo alone and toboggans off to sea, wary of the leopard seals that are ready to make her a meal, should she be any less careful.
Left to its own self, Solo becomes an easy catch to all the mother penguins that have lost their chick as they tug at her quite violently to adopt her as their own. Solo somehow manages to escape their clutches, only to be pinned down by the Skua, a scavenger bird that preys on penguin chicks that stray from the rookery. Just when the skua is about to nip Solo's belly off, Fin makes his heroic entry and lunges at the Skua and chases it away. Then you see what had taken so long for Fin to get back - he had gotten himself entangled in a net, and had somehow escaped, dragging the net along. A while later Floe is back as well, and the family has a very happy reunion.
Solo brought back memories of the Emperor Penguin documentary by Sir David Attenborough. Very beautiful ones, you can watch them here:
Daddy penguins in the rookery
Return of mummy penguins
Leopard Seal hunting out Emperor penguins
This book proved to be a great topic for discussion, both scientific and sentimental and is definitely a very good read about life in the Antarctic, survival instinct and the extreme endurance of the animal kingdom and the continuous threat that humans impose on these magnificent beings.
Solo. A beautiful tale of love and endurance.
Ages: 4+
When you look at the book you might almost mistake it for an educational one about life in the Antarctic. With original photographs. That is how vivid and detailed the pictures and the story look.
Solo is a very beautifully illustrated book about the life of an Emperor penguin family and its struggle for survival in an almost uninhabitable corner of the Earth. Mum Floe, after being back from the sea, finds her soulmate Fin and gives birth to Solo - still inside the egg, and then makes it back to sea to travel hundreds of miles to get food for her yet-to-be-born chick. Daddy Fin then gets ready for the toughest ordeal of going without food for months together and huddling close with the penguins in the rookery to keep himself and the newly hatched chick Solo warm. And alive.
After what seems like ages, Floe returns and takes charge of Solo while Fin finally gets his chance to venture out to sea and have some food and get some for Solo. But time moves on and while other daddies return, there is no sign of Fin. Floe realizes she must leave Solo alone and go herself to get some food, or Solo would starve away. She makes that toughest decision of leaving Solo alone and toboggans off to sea, wary of the leopard seals that are ready to make her a meal, should she be any less careful.
Left to its own self, Solo becomes an easy catch to all the mother penguins that have lost their chick as they tug at her quite violently to adopt her as their own. Solo somehow manages to escape their clutches, only to be pinned down by the Skua, a scavenger bird that preys on penguin chicks that stray from the rookery. Just when the skua is about to nip Solo's belly off, Fin makes his heroic entry and lunges at the Skua and chases it away. Then you see what had taken so long for Fin to get back - he had gotten himself entangled in a net, and had somehow escaped, dragging the net along. A while later Floe is back as well, and the family has a very happy reunion.
Solo brought back memories of the Emperor Penguin documentary by Sir David Attenborough. Very beautiful ones, you can watch them here:
Daddy penguins in the rookery
Return of mummy penguins
Leopard Seal hunting out Emperor penguins
This book proved to be a great topic for discussion, both scientific and sentimental and is definitely a very good read about life in the Antarctic, survival instinct and the extreme endurance of the animal kingdom and the continuous threat that humans impose on these magnificent beings.
Solo. A beautiful tale of love and endurance.
