Lulu Junior Author of the Month - Samantha Smith
I scream, you scream, penguins scream for ice cream! That may not be exactly how you remember the saying, but that’s what happens in Lulu Junior Author of the Month Samantha Smith’s story!
Samantha introduces us to Peck Peck, a curious penguin who loves to try new things. One of those new things is ice cream. And, like most people, Peck Peck loves it.
A penguin eating ice cream is not a scenario you come across every day, which begs the question: how did Samantha come up with the idea?
“My favorite animal is a penguin and my favorite food is ice cream. Also, why would people think penguins love fish when ice cream is obviously better,” says the Author of the Month.
Can’t argue with her there!
Unfortunately, as Peck Peck soon discovers, not all penguins feel the same way as he does about ice cream. His love of ice cream and trying new things is quickly met with disapproval from his fellow penguins. At first, we find the group in a standoff, with the other penguins deciding they won’t be friends with Peck Peck until he returns to an all fish diet, and Peck Peck deciding he doesn’t want to be friends with non-ice cream eaters.
Just when it starts to look like there is no hope in unifying the group, a brave little penguin named Waddles ventures over to Peck Peck and asks to try some ice cream…
(Insert dramatic pause)
And he loves it! The newly converted Waddles convinces the other members to try the sweet stuff and to no one’s surprise, they all love it!
This story is a win-win, from the great story-telling to the amazing drawings. But which part was Samantha’s favorite?
“My favorite part of writing the story was drawing the pictures! The pictures tell the story at least as much as the writing,” says Smith.
This story has a lot of lessons, but which does the author want you to remember the most?
“When I wrote the story three years ago, I would have said that I want people to remember that penguins like ice cream better than fish. As I think about it today, I know there is obviously a deeper message in my story. I will leave it to the reader to decide what that is. And of course I still want people to always remember that penguins like ice cream better than fish,” says Samantha.
What else do penguins like? Do you have an idea for an amazing story like Samantha? Take some advice from the Author of the Month herself:
“My advice is to write a super awesome book while you’re young,” says Samantha. “That way, later on when your English teacher is annoyed by your disinterest in her required readings and writings about negative events and death you can show her that you are an awesome writer and just don’t like the subject matter she’s teaching.”
Read the Full Interview:
I got my Lulu Junior kit from my parents as a present.
I have always enjoyed creative writing, although I currently really don’t like writing for English class at school.
Pretty simple: my favorite animal is a penguin and my favorite food is ice cream. Also, why would people think penguins love fish when ice cream is obviously better.
My favorite part of writing the story was drawing the pictures! The pictures tell the story at least as much as the writing.
It was super awesome!
When I wrote the story three years ago, I would have said that I want people to remember that penguins like ice cream better than fish. As I think about it today, I know there is obviously a deeper message in my story. I will leave it to the reader to decide what that is. And of course I still want people to always remember the penguins like ice cream better than fish.
My advice is to write a super awesome book while you’re young. That way, later on when your English teacher is annoyed by your disinterest in her required readings and writings about negative events and death you can show her that you are an awesome writer and just don’t like the subject matter she’s teaching.
I don’t plan on writing a next story. But if I did it would involve penguins!
