Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World

By Margret and H A Rey

Conceived in 1937 – published in 2000

Whiteblack is a penguin with his own talk radio show.  After running out of stories to share, Whiteblack decides to travel so he can have adventures to talk about.  Off he goes, and he surely has plenty of adventures, although they don’t always work out the way he expected.  He was accidentally shot out of a ship’s cannon, got lost in the desert, and was caught in a fishing net.  

I recently read the story of how H. A. Rey (born Hans Augusto Reyersbach) and his wife Margret escaped war torn France by bicycle with not much else besides a few children’s book manuscripts and the clothes they wore.  While the story of Whiteblack was one of those manuscripts, for some reason it was never published by the Reys.  A much more well-known story of theirs also traveled this way – the story of Curious George.  Although, at that time, it was known as The Adventures of Fifi!  After finally arriving in New York, Fifi’s name was changed to George.

While reading the story of daring Whiteblack the Penguin, I can’t help but draw comparisons to the Rey’s own lives.  Whiteblack sets out on adventures, not knowing what he’ll experience or how it will turn out.  There is danger along the way and things don’t always happen as expected.  Still, Whiteblack travels on, and eventually lands back at home, with plenty of stories to tell.  Fortunately for children everywhere, the Reys also eventually landed in a safe place, with plenty of their own stories to tell!