Author(s): Sandra Markle

Picture Books

Acclaimed non-fiction author Sandra Markle presents the daring story of a mother emperor penguin's struggle to reach the sea, find food, avoid predators, and make her way back to her mate and their newborn chick before they starve. Alan Marks's luminous illustrations highlight the harsh conditions and stunning landscapes of Antarctica.

Emperors Are Amazing! Emperor penguins are the largest and heaviest kind of penguin, standing up to 44 inches (112 centimeters) tall and weighing as much as 90 pounds (41 kilograms). At sea, emperor penguins can dive deeper than any other bird. By attaching special depth recorders, scientists discovered emperors could dive down more than 1,600 feet (500 meters). Emperor penguins are the only animals that breed during the Antarctic winter. It only takes about 150 days from hatching for emperor chicks to reach maturity, when they're ready to be on their own. Like all penguins an emperor penguin's bones are heavier than those of a flying bird. This helps them dive easily when they search for food.

Author's Note:

Thanks to the U.S. National Science Foundation, I had the opportunity to explore Antarctica and its wildlife during two summers and one winter. Antarctica is an amazing place anytime, but the winter is truly awesome. Although the sun never rises for about four months, the moon in its phases never sets. Instead, the moon circles in the sapphire blue, star-studded sky, making the frozen world luminous. Sometimes an incredible light show, the aurora, casts an alien green glow. But beyond all the beauty, it's the cold and the wind that I remember most. The cold is painful and piercing. I had to wear layers upon layers of protective gear, including goggles to keep my contacts from freezing instantly to my eyes between blinks. Then there was the wind! It was sometimes so strong I could lean into it and not fall. And it blew the tiny, diamond-dust snowflakes into a swirling, blinding cloud. It was experiencing this fiercest of all winters on Earth firsthand that made me think what an incredible effort female emperor penguins make. Sure, credit is due to males for sitting and incubating their eggs during the winter. But the females can't just hunker down and endure. They have to travel, find their way over an ever-changing landscape in the dark, find food, survive, and return. And they have to do all this in time to arrive shortly after their chick hatches. Female emperor penguins face an incredible challenge. This book honors their effort and applauds the fact that most succeed.