Spy Penguins

Sam Hay's Spy Penguins is a gadget-packed comic adventure for 7 year olds about a young penguin who's desperate to become a secret agent.

What happens

Jackson wants a place in the FBI more than anything. That's the Frosty Bureau of Investigation, where his Uncle Bryn is a real-life agent. So Jackson and his best friend Quigley are filming an audition video. Quigley is an inventor, and his latest invention is a rocket-powered sled. What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. Jackson shoots off a cliff, gets popped by an albatross and splashes down slap bang in a real FBI stakeout. Uncle Bryn's boss is NOT impressed, and now Uncle Bryn might lose his job.

So Jackson decides to crack the case himself. Rare fish keep vanishing from the City Aquarium, and the keeper who looks after them, their classmate Lily's dad, is getting the blame. Before long there's a very mean restaurant owner nicknamed Coldfinger, a lorry full of ice sculptures and Quigley's cousin Sunny, whose secret workshop is guarded by robot wasps.

It's silly in the best way. There are LOTS of sound effects (VHOOSH! POP!) and plenty of penguin jokes. Jackson has a list of secret-agent rules, like never screaming and never shouting for help, and he breaks every one of them. Quigley's inventions almost always go wrong in the most brilliant way.

Imagine having a best mate who carries a flame pen and a pair of blinking camera goggles around in his backpack!

The fun is in the chase rather than any real danger. Jackson gets stuck to an ice sculpture and grabbed by something in a fish tank, but it's slapstick rather than scary. There's a proper little mystery underneath too, with clues to spot before Jackson does.

Grown-ups might smile at the spy-film jokes (a villain called Coldfinger, an agent called 00Zero). It's American, so you'll get mom and candy along the way.

If your reader loves a funny mystery with a hero who never gives up, this is a great pick.

What to read next

If Sam Hay's sense of humour goes down well, Return of the Hungry Hamster is the first of his Undead Pets books. Joe is given a mysterious amulet by his great-uncle, and soon he's dealing with a ghostly pet with unfinished business (spooky, but played for laughs).