“Last winter, I found a penguin,” explains the storyteller. He says that the penguin knew how to fly until “he met some other birds. They said, ‘Penguins can’t fly.’ And he thought, ‘They’re right.’ That’s when he crashed.” Lots of coaching follows, but the penguin just can’t do it. Then, incredibly, he sees a flock of flying penguins (!) and without thinking about it, just goes ahead. “Suddenly, my penguin stretched out his wings, pushed off, and joined them in the air. He flew pretty well… for a penguin.” – Sebastian Meschenmoser, Fliegen Lernen (German 2005, English 2006)
This delightful illustrated book (not just) for children has been around for quite a while. But very recently, on April 1, the BBC was able to actually catch a whole flock of flying penguins on video! Maybe a positive side effect of global warming, a case of Lamarckian evolution? Just watch:
