By Julie

Although most people think of penguins as living in Antarctica, only seven of seventeen penguin species even go near this gigantic chunk of ice, and only two species spend their lives there. One of these phenomenal two species, the adorable and classic adélie, has been know to peck and waddle its way into people’s hearts. Holding the record for the furthest-south penguins, adélies even have a colony way down at the bottom of the world in Cape Royds, Antarctica! Named for a French 1830′s explorer’s wife, these penguins have black backs and heads and snow-white bellies. It’s one of the three brush-tail penguins, known for its brushlike tail. You’ve probably seen pictures of these adélies gliding along on their bellies. No matter how delightful their penguin swagger can be, sliding on their stomachs saves much more energy and waddling can be hard for them. In fact, walking takes 42% more energy than it does for a turkey! These penguins like to stick together. Gray, downy chicks huddle in a crèche- a kind of penguin day-care that keeps them warm and offers protection from skuas and other vicious birds that would like to gobble them up. The adults are often seen diving for food in groups. This keeps them safer from water predators, like leopard seals! If you know these perky penguins well, you can say that they’re as curious as Curious George, superbly intelligent, and of course- as cute as a button!
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph was written for a school project.

Penguins, penguins, everywhere!
Floating in the water
White bellies blending in
Invisable from above,
Or diving,
streaking
through the water like black and white torpedoes,
Turning loops underwater
Chaos
and
Pandemonium
Everywhere!
Cold slippery ice floes
and icebergs
are occupied
by many resting penguins
that are scrambling on
and diving off
all the time.
But after
a
long
time,
when the sky shines bright with stars,
the penguins scramble
Onto the snowy banks
Until there is just one left.
One little white belly
Against millions of gleaming stars
And the millions of waves
That make up the sea.

A candle glows across the snow,
Casting a bright and frosty glow,
On the front of an igloo, snow packed tight,
To keep its penguin warm at night.
Inside the igloo, smells waft and bake,
Scents of lemon, fish, and birthday cake.

Icebirdies that live in the ice and snow,
Where the temperature drops to a zillion below,
Making snowcones to eat at night,
And having a very fun snowball fight.