The Second Sky

January 24, 2020

PreS-Gr 2-Gilbert, a newborn penguin, knows exactly where he wants to be after hatching from his egg: up, up, and further up. His big, clumsy feet and small wings do not deter him, and he knows that if he keeps trying, he will ultimately find a way. Inspired by a gliding albatross, he realizes that he has been flapping too hard and simply needs to spread his wings, as the bigger bird does, and soar. Instead of up, however, Gilbert stumbles down, where he discovers that he has the unique ability to launch himself along the water instead of air. The underlying message about overcoming obstacles and achieving one's dreams is clearly represented in simple, poetic prose. Bentley's splashy watercolors vividly capture Gilbert's launch within an underwater paradise. While Helen Lester's Tacky the Penguin features far sillier penguin antics, Guest's work presents more factual content. VERDICT This top-notch picture book features a lovable main character and demonstrates that penguins can indeed fly. Recommended for wide purchase.-Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 15, 2019
A penguin longs to fly.A half-hatched penguin peers out from his cracked-open egg on the title page, sharing his first view of the world with readers on the following double-page spread. The shell's hole faces upward, so Gilbert sees only sky. "The moon glowed. The stars sparkled. The birds wheeled." Gilbert's enamored. He needs to fly. But...he's a penguin. "[T]he storm petrels, the shearwaters, and the wandering albatross" soar "Up Up Up," those three words marching upward on the page. Gilbert, in contrast, flaps, waddles, slips, spins, and tumbles. The harder he tries, the more he falls, and the more renditions of him appear, emphasizing his failure--even 19 at once. He looks like he's dancing across the spread, but dancing isn't his goal. Family is unhelpful: "Give it up, Gilbert," and, "You're a penguin, not a goose," Uncle Crabstack and Aunt Anchovy say quellingly. Gilbert is undeterred. Trudging up a rocky, snowy height, he watches the albatross soar away "over the sparkling ocean." He jumps to follow--and inadvertently finds his heart's desire: the penguin version of flying, which is underwater and, it turns out, equally glorious. With masterful composition and scale changes, Bentley creates a white and gently patterned icy world where flying birds wing in elegance both near and far. He renders Gilbert's fluffiness brilliantly in watercolor and pencil--Gilbert appears soft, not wet--while giving adult penguins sleek edges and flying birds a fine delicacy.Like Gilbert, this soars. (Picture book. 3-6)

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May 1, 2019
This Australian import about finding the beauty that's all around you opens with the magnificent view of a star-sparkling, moon-glowing sky filled with such seabirds as storm petrels and shearwaters. This view belongs to Gilbert, a penguin who has just hatched from his egg. He knows, without question, that he wants to be up in that sky. As he grows, he makes repeated efforts to soar, determinedly flapping his small wings with no success. One day, after being inspired by an albatross's exquisite gliding, Gilbert climbs a rocky, icy cliff over the ocean and jumps. He sinks into the sea and discovers that the awe-inspiring world under the waves is just as dazzling and grand as the sky above. He falls in love with the floating forests, swaying gardens, and mighty mountaintops under the sea and finds that he can do the equivalent of flying underwater, his wings spread. Bentley paints an endearing protagonist in Gilbert, with his soft, velvety plumage and wide-eyed waddling. The illustrations of soaring seabirds, snowy vistas, and underwater landscapes are splendid. Cleverly, the text plays with the story's premise with an up up up at the opening, during which Gilbert gazes at seabirds flying, and follows with a down down down, as he tumbles into the water to discover the breathtaking second sky of the title. julie Danielson

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2019
This Australian import opens with baby penguin Gilbert's magnificent view of a seabird-filled sky. As he grows, Gilbert makes repeated efforts to soar, without success. The illustrations of soaring seabirds, snowy vistas, and underwater landscapes are splendid. Cleverly, the text plays with the story's premise: "up up up" at the opening is followed by "down down down" as Gilbert discovers the breathtaking "second sky" under the waves.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)