I picked up this book because it was on Amazon's 100 Children's Books to Read in a Lifetime. I honestly had no idea what it was about. When I first picked it up I thought great another zoo book with pretty pictures. Except that this book is not another zoo book at all. Instead it tells the true story of two penguins in the Central Park Zoo. These penguins fell in love and tried to hatch their own egg without success. It it was a hard feat since both the penguins were male. So, a zookeeper took an egg that would most likely not have survived, and placed it in their nests.

There are many different types of families, and this book is a wonderful reminder of that. It is great read for all children to understand that families do not have to have one mother and one father to be happy, and for the children to be loved. The story was told in a beautiful way, it left me a bit misty at the end. I was curious if it was based on real life events, and was thrilled to read about the events that this story is based off of on the last page of the book. I am really glad that the author included the extra information.

The pictures in this book are in full color and well presented. They look like they were done with watercolor. The pictures themselves take time to process, and make it enjoyable to see over and over.

I really wish I had known about this book when my children were younger. Although I am glad that I finally picked it up.