Reggie: Kid Penguin
by Jen de Oliveira; illus. by the author
Primary    Little, Brown    80 pp.
6/23    9780759557550    $12.99
Paper ed.  9780759557567    $7.99
e-book ed.  9780759557543    $9.99

This debut comic is a collection of six short stories about Reggie, a penguin who deals with such kid-centric trials as picture day, a babysitter who treats him like a baby, and getting a stomachache from eating too much raw cookie dough. A few “Word from the Bird” breaks give Reggie opportunities for direct address, encouraging readers to keep going. De Oliveira tells these stories with minimal dialogue and maximum use of all her tools as an illustrator: pacing of panels, expressive lines, selective use of closeups, and bright, cheerful color. The result is a comic that’s easy to read but that also shows a keen attunement to kids’ interests and thought processes. When Reggie’s cousin insists on putting him on a leash before they go to the park (“It’s my job to keep you safe”), Reggie acts like a dog (including trying to urinate on a fire hydrant). Eventually his cousin is so mortified, she lets him off the leash—at which point, he and his friends start pretending they’re farm animals. The structure of the whole is well paced, too, alternating between stories and segments where Reggie breaks the fourth wall, keeping pages turning.

From the July/August 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.