My husband and I went to the Cincinnati Zoo last Saturday to see the penguin walk. The zoo has this event on weekends during the the winter months when it is 50 degrees Fahrenheit or below. It was in the upper thirties; a nice sunny day. Many people came out for this. Lots of parents with children; some strollers with babies. Everyone took pictures (with their cell phones). My husband and I got a glance of some of the penguins waddling by, amongst several zoo personnel who were there to make sure the penguins remained safe. This day, the penguins walked to the Tiki Hut and back to their Wings of the World exhibit.
In the penguin exhibit, we got to meet a King penguin named Burger. He stood on a rock (island) surrounded by water in which some of the other penguins were swimming and diving around. He had earned the right to stand there as long as he wants, according to one of his caregivers. Burger is 37 years old, the oldest penguin at this zoo. The baby penguins are kept in a nursery. If one could see them, they would see young penguins look soft and fuzzy, covered with a layer of down.
Today, Google is honoring John Tenniel, the illustrator of Alice In Wonderland. It will be exciting to see how the illustrator of my next book illustrates penguins.