When Father Turtle reads Little Turtle a bedtime story about penguins, he has no idea the story will have a transformative effect on his son. Dreaming about the black and white birds, Little Turtle wakes up in the morning wanting to be a penguin. After slipping into his red slippers and finding an old black coat to hang over his head and back, Little Turtle is confident that his white belly completes the appearance of an artic bird. Waddling past his parents on the way to the school bus, Little Turtle announces that he is going to have a “penguin day.” At school, all of his friends are delighted with his costume, and soon everyone is playing along, shuffling fragile eggs on their feet, belly-sliding down the playground slide. At home, Little Turtle ends his day with goldfish crackers—because penguins like to eat fish. Valeri Gorbachev’s humorously sweet story about the power of books to inspire imaginative play ends with a playful twist at Little Turtle’s bedtime that will have young readers and listeners imagining plenty of monkey business for Little Turtle next. (Ages 3–6)