Yesterday was Penguin Awareness Day, but you probably already knew that. (Right.) Still, how fun is a day celebrating penguins? At my house, we read one of our new favorite picture books, Baby Penguins Everywhere by Melissa Guion.

Here, Mama penguin has lots and lots of babies. She’s happy to be a mama, but taking care of a family is hard, and Mama could really just use a moment alone every now and then (maybe without having to lock herself in the bathroom, right?) , making this a playful story that my kids ask for again and again.

And now, just this month, the author has released a sequel: Baby Penguins Love Their Mama. Here, Mama Penguin is one of those amazing moms that seem to do it all — Monday, swimming lessons. Tuesday, sliding. Wednesday, waddling. She’s a bit worn out by Saturday and I hardly blame her. But then on Sunday, her babies surprise her with a special treat–which is the point at which you want to give a slight nudge, nudge to your kids.

Your children will probably identify with the fun activities the little penguins get to do, and I’m betting you mamas out there will identify with all the work mama penguin does. With all due respect to human dads who of course plenty of their share too, even if they’re the human kind of dads.

These books are for kids who can still climb up in your lap and snuggle to read. And if it makes your kids appreciate how hard parenting is, then I’ll gladly read it every night.

Baby Penguins Love Their Mama and Baby Penguins Everywhere by Melissa Guion are both available from our affiliate Amazon and your local independent bookstore.