Neville's Great Escape
Review posted April 2, 2026.
Walker Books, 2026. 32 pages.
Review written February 20, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
Neville's Great Escape is a follow-up to Frank's Red Hat, which is about a penguin who is different than other penguins because he starts wearing a red hat.
I think the main reason I never reviewed Frank's Red Hat when it came out was that the image on the page that showed what happened when Neville tried the red hat was simply too terrifying. I couldn't laugh my way past it. Poor Neville!
Well, that image from Frank's Red Hat is exactly the image on the cover of Neville's Great Escape - a giant killer whale looming over Neville, about to swallow him whole.
Hooray! Neville escapes! It's right in the title! Now I can feel free to love both books.
So - this picture book is the story of how the penguin Neville escapes from the inside of a whale's mouth.
His method is implausible and silly, involving lots of inexplicable furniture - but it's also a lot of fun. Neville lives!
And he's not eaten yet.