Rickards, Lynne. Pink! Il. Margaret Chamberlain. 2009. unp. Chicken House/Scholastic, $16.99. (978-0-545-08608-0). Gr. K-2.

What’s a bright pink penguin to do? Well, after doctor who tells Patrick that there is nothing she can do, his father suggests he live with the pink flamingos. He can’t fit in with them because he cannot catch fish the way they do, he can’t take a nap standing on one leg, and he can’t fly to the nesting ground. So he returns home where he is welcomed back, and his classmates stop teasing him. “Being different wasn’t so bad after all.” A comical book with bold, colorful illustrations, this picture book combines messages about differences, bullying, and gender identity in a delightful read-aloud story. Although some may not see this as overtly glbtq, it follows the pattern: child realizes difference, classmates tease him, parents send him to doctor, doctor doesn’t help, parents show him similarities with kids far away, kid goes away, it doesn’t work and he comes home, kid works things out for himself and accepts being different. —Nel Ward