I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book courtesy of NorthSouth Books via NetGalley.

Chilly da Vinci by Jarret Rutland

Release Date: December 4th, 2018

Publisher: NorthSouth Books

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Rating: 4 / 5



The Storyline:

Self-declared inventor penguin Chilly da Vinci accidentally separates a piece of his iceberg from his home when an invention goes wrong (as they usually do). It’s now up to him to finally create an invention that works in order to get him and some of his fellow penguin peers back home!

The Good:

I’m new to reviewing picture books, but this book was extremely cute and beautifully illustrated. Penguins are my favorite animal, so I was immediately drawn to the book, but I was also hooked on it’s overall message to kids about “conquering your iceberg” and continuing on with your beliefs despite what others say. Chilly is easy to love and root for throughout the entire book.

The Bad:

I was a little confused as to why the penguins couldn’t just swim back to their iceburg, since penguins do swim. However, I assume they were far away from the iceberg and it’s just something we roll with because it’s a children’s book.

Bottom Line:

A gorgeous and vibrantly illustrated fun children’s book with an encouraging message to young readers.

This was cute little story about Chilly da Vinci. I love the book name and illustrations. It was really fun to read.

Written in the form of Chilly’s inventor’s journal, this is a delightful story about the innovation process, which includes observation, inspiration, problem solving, mistakes, naysayers, doubts, “recovery time,” persistence and finally, success. The illustrations are FUNtastic.

A fun read aloud to inspire students toward creativity, risk-taking and persistence, espeically if the discussion includes information about Leonardo Da Vinci from the author’s note. A definite addition to my school library.

Chilly doesn't do "normal" penguin things, he is an inventor! Part of his home breaks off with him an some other penguins on it and Chilly has to find a way to get them back to the main land before the circling orca breaks their iceberg apart! Author includes notes about artist Leonardo Da Vinci, the inspiration for Chilly.

Chilly is an adorable penguin. But he's not just a penguin, he's also an inventor! The only issue is that most of his machines don't work, at least not yet. With a great deal of humor and wonderful illustrations, this picture book is sure to hook your readers. With the Makerspace movement in schools today, this would be a great addition to any classroom or library. The message shows what can happen with perseverance and the power of yet! This will definitely be a purchase for our library when it is published in December 2018. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for graciously providing this ARC.

Chilly may be a penguin, but he’s a penguin with an inventor’s heart. Stuck on a dangerous iceberg, he tries, tries, tries, and tries again and finally succeeds in devising a way to get home with his buddies. Gorgeous illustrations and great humor, with many nods to Leonardo himself. As the author concludes: “Go forth, young innovators, and be masters of your iceberg!”

Mille grazie to NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

#ChillyDaVinci #NetGalley

I love the message of persistence in this book. The illustrations are fun and the story is engaging. I enjoy imaginative stories that provide an introduction to real people and events - like da Vinci. This book would be good for lessons related to engineering and art.

Adorable children’s book. The book also has fantastic illustrations. Great lesson for students of all age about being yourself and persevering.

I'm happy that I got read this ARC and there will be my honest review which I promised.
The book was Chilly da Vinci by Jarrett Rutland.

I'm not sure what I can say. The book was ok and pictures was nice. Even thought I didn't understand if there was a plot. Main character was ok, but my favorite was the orca. Maybe if I have a little kids, this book will be nice, but when I have a little bit older god kids, this book seems to be much younger reader. Even thought it was nice idea that the main character is like Leonardo Da Vinci. Or maybe there was some problems with the pictures, because usual I saw only the half picture/ texts in the same time. But book was ok even thought I needed think a lot, if the pictures were put on this book right or if there was some problems, because sometimes the plot was quite interesting and not like good way. But maybe some other will like this more, but to me it was only 2+/5 if I think rating of this book.

This children's book of a little over forty pages tells the entertaining and educational story of the inventor penguin who won't give up. It's a good lesson to learn in life. Adrift on an iceberg, which is slowly being chiseled away by a very hungry orca, Chilly has to devise a plan to rescue himself and his fellow drifters before the ice barge completely collapses and they all become killer whale crunchy breakfast cereal.

While the other penguins are standing around panicked and hilariously chanting "Gakker gakker gakker," young Chilly is chilling with his blueprints (actually more like sepia prints), and scraps retrieved from floating sea junk (which is a serious problem in real life). Can he rescue them? Why do blurb writers idiotically ask these asinine questions? Of course he can! And yes, the ex-special forces guy will rescue the child, and yes the failed woman who an back home will find true love. Why insult us with a dumb question like that?! LOL! Fortunately this blurb writer is smarter and more inventive than that, which I truly appreciated. I loved this book and fully recommend it.

The illustrations are adorable and the story is sweet enough.

A young "different" penguin prefers inventing to swimming and eating fish. As with his namesake, many of Chilly's inventions go awry and cause some degree of chaos among the colony. When Chilly finds himself in a bind, trying to avoid the clutches of an Orca he gets true inspiration!

A quick sweet read, children will probably enjoy looking at the adorable penguins more than even listening to what you're reading to them but as long as they are sitting still! :)

Simply delightful. Chilly the Penguin lives on Vinci but an ufortunate accident splits the ice. He and other penguins float around on a small iceberg, dreading Plupoy Fin (an Orca) who keeps chomping away, at the ice, getting closer and closer. Never fear. Chilly is a master inventor (a la Leonardo). Though some of his inventions (made from sea junk) flop, he finally succeeds in creating a flying machine that brings his troop back to Vinci—and just in time to avoid their demise and Plumpy Fin. Artfully-executed watercolor illustrations fill this fun and humorous picture book. At the end of the tale, there’s a kid-friendly bio of Chilly’s Italian namesake. A book to encourage little creators to think outside the box. Five stars.

I thought this book was really cute and informative. It put a fun spin on a very inventive man and made his story more interesting for kids. A couple of cute and funny sayings too made me laugh!

This book will be so awesome in my 3rd grade class when we do unit 5. It ties in with inventors and I teach about Leonardo da Vinci already so it’s perfect. I love the illustrations, love the setting, and it is very witty.

Chilly da Vinci wants to invent things instead of doing normal "penguin stuff, which turns out to be useful... eventually... when he and some of the other penguins get stranded on an iceberg which is slowly being consumed by an orca. The art is fun, and the story is a nice exploration of how it takes more than one try to get things right.

The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous! I cannot rave enough about the details and thought that was put into the illustrations. I did enjoy how the text reminds me of how a tinkerer or an engineer would write notes for later or notes you may find in a journal. I enjoyed the cute penguin and the puns throughout the book!

I thought this book was really cute. It follows a penguins with big dreams so loves to invent but it doesn’t always go as planned. My kids loved the simple story and beautiful pictures.

Cute concept and relevant— growth mindset examples that are fun and can connect back to a real human of you want to. My copy had formatting that wasn’t complete / confusing so I don’t feel like I can honestly rate it just yet!

I loved this story of Chilly da Vinci, modeled after Leonardo da Vinci, meant to teach little ones about not giving up after a first try. Chilly, who-like Leonardo- is an inventor, fails several times, as did Leonardo, before creating the perfect machine to save him and his friends.

The illustrations in this book are GORGEOUS. They're these beautiful watercolor looking creations of the little inventor penguin and his penguin buddies and their nemesis, Plumpy Fin the Orca. I only wish the story would have been written in as lovely a manner as the illustrations... The words are just very stiff and don't flow well or tell a good story. The pictures tell a great story about an inventor penguin whose inventions have an alarming tendency to fail, but he keeps trying and in the end is able to fix one of his first contraptions to save himself and his friends. I just wish it had been told in a more accessible, kid-friendly (kid-interesting?) way.

I found myself making up a story to go along with the pictures when reading this to my 2- and 4-year-old in order to keep them engaged. I did keep one line as written, though:
"NOTE: I did not become whale poop. I need a break."