WITHOUT YOU

“Where would I be, / What would I do, / Who in the world would see me through . . . ” croons a penguin hatchling from the feet of its protective father as, huddled together, the two wait long months for mother’s return. Duranceau alternates blue-tinged scenes of gracefully posed Emperor penguin fathers and offspring on land, with undersea views of the mothers, all of whom are off braving the ocean’s dangers to feed before returning, at long last, to a joyful reunion. Then it’s the fathers’ turn to be off. Weeks explains this annual natural cycle in an egg-shaped preface, and sings the tender lyrics on an enclosed CD (not heard). Library shelves tend to be crowded with portraits of penguin life, but this is an unusually appealing one, with particular resonance for families with temporarily absent parents. (Picture book. 5-8)