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1 children s / ISBN $15.95 T he Big LATIMER Penguin would love to perform in the Big annual TalEnT Show but he just can t find T alent his own special talent. alex latimer is an author and illustrator living in cape Town. his house is near the border of a national park so while not writing or drawing, he spends his free time shooing baboons out of his lounge. he is also the author of ThE Boy who cried fireworks! Show JETS! Special appearance by ThE King of norway with MuSical SEnSaTion Mice on STilTS! The Jolly llamas PEnguin S hidden TalEnT he tries juggling appliances with Bear, doing magic tricks with rabbit, and even burping the alphabet with fox. ninja. can his friends help him discover what he s really good at? author and illustrator alex ISBN 13: ISBN 10: $15.95 latimer s quirky charm lights up the pages of this humorous picture book about finding your true gifts. printed in china

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3 copyright Published by PEACHTREE PUBLISHERS 1700 Chattahoochee Avenue Atlanta, Georgia Text and illustrations 2012 by Alex Latimer All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Originally published in Great Britain in 2012 by Random House. Artwork created as pencil drawings, digitized, then finished with color and texture First Edition Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Latimer, Alex. Penguin s hidden talent / written and Illustrated by Alex Latimer. p. cm. Summary: Penguin helps organize the annual talent show because he cannot identify his own gift, but when the show is over and the performers throw a party to show how much they appreciate Penguin s work, his aptitude becomes clear. ISBN / [1. Ability--Fiction. 2. Talent shows--fiction. 3. Penguins--Fiction. 4. Animals--Fiction.] I. Title. apz7.l Pen 2012 [E]--dc The BIG annual Talent Show was just around the corner... Printed in February 2012 in China Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 2-3

4 ...and everyone was practicing. Ta-da! Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 4-5

5 Everyone except Penguin. Penguin couldn t figure out what his talent was. It wasn t baking. It wasn t map reading. And it wasn t knitting. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 6-7

6 Albatross wanted to help Penguin find his talent. Have you ever tried swallowing a whole marlin? he asked. Bear also wanted to help. Have you ever tried juggling appliances? he asked. Too big. Still too big. Perfect! But Penguin could only swallow a sardine. But Penguin only managed to break a blender and get a toaster stuck up a tree. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 8-9

7 Have you tried doing magic tricks? asked Rabbit. But though Penguin made Rabbit s watch disappear... Have you tried burping the alphabet? asked Fox. he couldn t bring it back again. But all Penguin could do was hiccup. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 10-11

8 Don t worry about me, said Penguin. I ll just help organize the Talent Show. That way I can still be involved, even though I don t have a talent. So while his friends practiced Penguin drew posters, made phone calls, sent s, and polished the trophy. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 12-13

9 Finally the big day arrived. The opening ceremony was terrific. There were fireworks, and jets, and lots of good music. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 14-15

10 Then a guest speaker spoke. And a famous band played. You have to believe in yourself... Ice, Ice Baby. Is that the King of Norway? Ooh, yes. I believe it is. Groovy! Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 16-17

11 Then the show started. Albatross, Fox, Bear, and Rabbit all did exceptionally well. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 18-19

12 The judges took forever to count up the points, but eventually they came to a decision. The winner of this year s Talent Show is... BEAR! With medals of excellence going to Albatross, Fox, and Rabbit! Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 20-21

13 Everyone celebrated. But not Penguin. After all, he didn t have a medal. And he walked slowly home through the snow. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 22-23

14 Bear, Albatross, Fox, and Rabbit were very worried about Penguin. They tried to think of a way to cheer him up. I know, said Rabbit. Let s throw Penguin a party to thank him for organizing the Talent Show! Everyone agreed that it was a very good idea. And they all worked late into the night to organize a great party. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 24-25

15 The next morning, when Penguin came outside for the newspaper, he found that his friends had thrown him a party. And it wasn t a very good one. Albatross had made a tattered banner that said, THAKS PEMGIN. The only music that Rabbit could organize was a singing canary. Fox brought his grandma as the guest speaker. And Bear brought an old loaf of bread instead of a cake. And I ll tell you another thing about sandwiches... Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 26-27

16 If only you d organized this party, Penguin, said Rabbit. Then it wouldn t be so terrible. Hello. I d like to order... And just then, Penguin realized how talented he really was. I don t need a medal. I need a telephone. Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 28-29

17 What a great party! What a great talent! Penguins_Hidden_Talent_p1_32.USedition.indd 30-31

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