After reading Pookins for the First time, we were convinced that Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger knew our daughter, Lucy. This is a delightful story about a precocious little girl, similar to our friend, Eloise. This story can be enjoyed by children and adults alike, many of whom will undoubtedly recognize the heroine as their own child.

I wonder if Pookins and Tacky are cousins?

As a kindergarten teacher, I am always looking for books that teach as well as entertain. Helen Lester delivers just this in her story about a very spoiled princess named Penelope and her parrot that she receives as a birthday present. Penelope does not speak nicely to the bird, and is angered when the bird will not speak to her. Penelope later learns how important it is to use "nice words" when speaking to others because her words come back(as the voice of the parrot) to haunt her in front of a prince she wishes to impress.

The story is cleverly written in a language that the children identify with and the pictures match the story completely and are as equally amusing. My class loves this book and begs to hear it over and over. This is one of Helen Lester's best books, and is definitely a must have! If a five year old want to read it, it has to be wonderful!

We found a copy at a used book store when my daughter was two. She liked it then because of the silly sounds. Now that she is four and begining to understand how friendship works, she is getting the "moral" of the story. It is a lot of fun to read out loud and teaches so many things (rhyming, colors, friendship,the pitfalls of jealousy/revenge and much more) in a subtle and funny book

It's about a chicken, a fairy, and a wizard who are all jealous about each other. They try to show each other who's the best by making monsters, but the monsters ran after them. What will they do?

Our entire family loves this book. How can you resist a chicken in a tutu, a magic chicken at that, and a magic pickle? This is such a cute book and we love the fact that it's all about working together to solve a problem (even if it's one you've created yourself). My 3 love it and can identify with the characters. We also love the Revenge of the magic chicken, but alas it is now out of print (check your library).

Very funny. My 4 and 6 year old loved it. The characters try to one up each other and it goes awry with the Magic Chicken. It lets the kids figure out a solution to the problem before the Magic chicken and that makes them feel good. It also teaches them some good morals. But mostly it's funny.

This book is definitely not as good as the first one, but it is still cute. I love Tacky, and seeing what he was up to was great! A good read for anyone!

A very fun read with your child. Tacky the penguin goes ice surfing and lands in Africa, where he meets an elephant. Tacky and his new friend have a fun filled dinner time adventure while Tacky tries to prove that he is really a penguin and not a bouquet of flowers! My children and I both got a big laugh out of this book!

When I was a little girl, in the sixties, I loved the story of Little Black Sambo, but thirty years later, when my son came across my copy in a box of old books, and asked me to read it to him, I found that it was a lot less charming than I thought it was. Sambo was a great, resourceful little boy and the story was terrific, but as an adult I couldnÕt overlook the obvious condescension that the British author had toward her Indian characters. I hid the book away, but reluctantly, because it really was a good story with a great central character.

A few years later, I was thrilled to find this book. Julius Lester has kept everything that I loved about the original and made it even better. The story, about a clever little boy who outwits some tigers who want to eat him, is pretty much the same as Helen BannermanÕs version. Lester has simply transported it from India to a fantastic, fairy tale America, where animals and people live and work together. But what is special here is the way Lester tells the story. His style is funny one minute and breathtakingly beautiful the next. The writing is so fine and musical, itÕs a pleasure to read aloud.

And the pictures are brilliant. Jerry Pinkney is one of the best childrenÕs book illustrators around, and this is the best thing IÕve ever seen by him. It has all the lovely qualities IÕve come to expect to find in PinkneyÕs art work Ð great composition, tasteful use of color (which makes the brighter colors of SamÕs clothes practically glow on the page), and exquisite detail. But this book has magic touches that go way beyond that. Every time I look at this book, I discover new details Ð the faces in the tree bark and foliage, the little bonnets and jackets on the insects, the facial expressions of tiny, hidden animals recoiling in fear of the tigers Ð that add to the magic world of this book.

My thanks to Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney for making it possible for me to read this great story to my children again.

I am an elementary librarian at Hardin Northern Schools. Almost all of my students are too young to remember the controversy that surround Little Black Sambo, and have never heard the story.

I was a child that grew up with that story, and loved it dearly. I also was a child who's mother was afraid the story was sending negative messages to her impressionable children. So at a certain point in our lives Sambo was removed.

How delighted I was to see it reappear it this wonderful new light. Pinkney and Lester are masters of their domains, and have proven once again that a good story is a most powerful tool.

I introduced this book at the beginning of the year and have had temendous results. Parents and children report having conversations about the old story vs. the new one. It has opened up a new line of communication in many households in our area.

How else could you make butter from a yellow shirt, purple pants, green umbrella, red coat, silver shoes, tigers and a very clever hero? Only in a book. Thank you Mr. Lester and Mr. Pinkney!!

I am a teacher of first grade and kindergarten students. My little students are six years of age...not old enough to remember the difficulties of segregation and the story of Ruby Bridges. They have never heard the story of Little Black Sambo. This past week we've been studying the life and philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I read the wonderfully written and illustrated book of Sam and the Tigers to my kidlets. They loved the colorful illustrations and the idea that people and animals could live, speak, and work together. We all reveled in the beautiful language used by Julius Lester. This is a book the children want hear again and again.

This is a funny story that will keep you guessing until the end. Whose fault was it that caused the bird to lay an egg on Murdley Gurdson's head? Was it Murdley's fault or the other animal's fault? The story continues on and is very funny. The ending may seem confusing but will only be obvious if you read the whole story. So until then you can only go by what I have written.

Josh V.

Murdley Gurdson suddenly has an egg laid on his head. The bird claims "it wasn't my fault...". Murdley and his new-found friends discover a humerous chain of events that led to the egg on Murdley's head.

My daughter loved the illustrations and discovering how a simple chain of events can seriously impact your life. This book started quite a conversation on how we are ultimately responsible for what we do.

The book was humerous and fun to read.

I know a 5 year old boy who ask to read this story all the time. It's a funny story about a chain of events caused by a little boy ,that affect alot of animals but in the end they all forgive Murdley Gurdson and help him to feel better about making a mistake. The pictures are cute, the story interesting and just the right length to be fun. Sure to put a smile on the face of adults and childern alike.

Through repitition, this book is a good beginner reader. It is also just a little silly. The illustrations are detailed and add to the story line.

I liked this book because I like penguins and how they live. This story is about a penguin named Tacky and his companions named Perfect, Neatly, Angel, Lovely, and Goodly. Tacky was opposite of his companions on everything, their marching, diving, and singing. One day they heard thumps and that meant hunters. The companions hid but Tacky stayed. Did the hunters take Tacky or did Tacky shew them away? Read the book to find out.

This book is, frankly, annoying. It is written in a strange manner, mixing "folksy" dialogue and more straightforward language, with an awkward flow to it - hardly inducive to reading out loud.

I found the characters either mean-spirited or annoying, and the storyline clunky. The "song" that Tacky sings at the end while doing a stupid dance is just plain difficult to sing. It is up to the reader to imagine a "tune" while reading the book aloud, but the lyrics are quite tuneless (contrast with, say, Boynton).

Disappointing book, in my opinion.

If you loved how Tacky tricked the hunters in his first book you will love his stint as the emeror.