Penguin goes to Playschool; Parrot goes to Playschool

Intended as moral tales with themes pertinent to young children encountering group situations for the first time (sharing, turn-taking, and co-operating with others), these two stories feature dressed soft toy animals at playschool.

Good aspects (children solving their own problems, kindness) are outweighed for me by an insensitive streak which I find uncomfortable. For example, is the ostrich teacher (with her head well-buried in the toy-box) avoiding responsibility as much as delegating it to the children? And when Penguin hogs the slide, is Crocodile's idea of justice (waiting to catch Penguin in his open jaws at the foot of the slide) helpful or another form of bullying in itself?

The Scarry-like illustrations are stiff, poorly composed and unattractive, though I did like chatterbox Parrot's toffee-filled speech bubble when he is at last silenced by a 'very, very sticky' beakful!