by Michael Portis (Author), Lori Richmond (Illustrator)
Crown Books for Young Readers (May 21, 2019)
Age Range: 3 – 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool – 2
Hardcover: 40 pages
ISBN-10: 1101932988
ISBN-13: 978-1101932988
Fans of Tad Hills and Jory John will love this hilarious picture book about Pinky, a flamingo at the zoo who sneakily slips out to join a group of kids on their zoo tour.
Pinky isn’t your typical flamingo. He’s a real escape artist!
When he sees a young girl named Penny and her class touring the zoo, Pinky feels like they’re birds of a feather and decides to make a break for it.
Penny is the first to spot the flamingo hiding in plain sight. One by one, she lets her friends in on Pinky’s antics as he tries to blend in with the seals, the meerkats, and even the pandas.
Young readers will enjoy trying to find Pinky on every spread and will be curious to discover whether he can actually fly the coop!
Nana’s Notes
My grandson Remington was here for the weekend so he was my review assistant for this book. He was supposed to have had a field trip to the zoo on Friday but it was rained out, so I thought this would be a good book to share with him.
I loved the story and the illustrations are wonderful. The book is a great bridge from being read to children two to three years old and one that can transition to a learn to read book for five to 6-year-olds like Remi.
As a new reader, Remi was happy to recognize almost all of the words and reading the book together was priceless Nana/grandson time. He quickly found Pinky on each page and laughed a the ending. He reminded me that at our nearby zoo, the flamingos are just like in this book. They start out in a group area near the park entrance but we always see one or two in other areas of the zoo. He liked the pictures but wished Joey would have been the star instead of Penny 🙂 I did catch him reading it again all by himself a short time later.
Both Remington and Nana give this book 5 stars. Remi says it would be a good book for “a girl like Penny”. I think it is great for boys and girls ages three – seven. We also decided we need to take a family trip to the zoo again this year to make up for the trip he missed. He just wishes we could take a school bus instead of our cars. LOL
About the Author and Illustrator
Michael Portis is a children’s book author and illustrator from Studio City, California. He received his MFA in art at UCLA and is an art director and children’s book app designer. Pinky Got Out! is his debut picture book. You can visit him at michaelportis.com.
Lori Richmond got out of her studio and explored the Bronx Zoo while making this book. She is the illustrator of several picture books and the author-illustrator of Pax and Blue and Bunny’s Staycation. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @loririchmond or visit her at loridraws.com.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
