“The Penguin Family: A Collection of Stories for Children” (self-published, 2025)
Author: Suzanne Quinson, a 2003 graduate of Christendom College in Front Royal, lived in the greater Washington area for nearly two decades after graduation and was active in the pro-life community in both the Arlington and Washington dioceses before moving to South Carolina. Today she is a parishioner of St. Peter’s Church in Beaufort, S.C., in the Diocese of Charleston.
Why did you write this book? I have always loved writing and during my time at Christendom, friends suggested I write children’s books. This encouragement continued for more than 15 years. In January 2019, I began work on “The Penguin Family.” Friends shared my long-held concerns about the difficulty of finding non-religious children’s books that didn’t promote dangerous ideologies, sometimes with such skilled subtlety as to be very effective and harmful. Like many Catholics, I had long felt the need to promote the nuclear family, rather than just constantly defend it. I also missed seeing children’s books with a rich vocabulary and engaging characters. I set out to write a pro-family, pro-life book that would also foster a love of reading and language in children.
Synopsis: The Penguin Family is a portrait of a loving, large family who have wholesome adventures and big personalities. The book contains 10 stories about the family, Mummy and Papa, and their 13 children and extended family. It’s an idyllic look at childhood in a nuclear family. We see their children learning to read, bake, help with the new baby, etc., and the enormous pride Mummy and Papa feel in their little ones.
These are stories for bright, imaginative children of engaged, loving parents. The book is designed to be read aloud for maximum enjoyment. I think Catholic families will appreciate that the content is completely wholesome and relatable.
