Legendary penguin (and political) cartoonist Tom Tomorrow has created another collection of his scathing cultural commentary. "When Penguins Attack" is Tomorrow's fifth collection of his weekly "This Modern World" comic strip, which has spanned 10 years and features Sparky, America's penguin political conscience and sometimes Presidential candidate. "When Penguins Attack" is a must-read for political and penguin junkies. With the cold weather here, consider a trip to see our penguin friends in Antarctica, especially now that the frozen continent has its own travel guide in the Lonely Planet series.

As the South Pole is now emerging from its six months of winter darkness, now would be the best time to go. Given its remoteness, inhospitable climate (even in the summer), and cost in lives as well as money, it's surprising how many adventurers have been undeterred in visiting the "white desert." Douglas Mawson, the Australian explorer, thrived on hardship. "The Home of the Buzzard," his 1915 book (St. Martin's), narrates with terse vigor the tale of his 1,245-mile sled journey, which killed two of his companions. The depravations endured by earlier visitors to the region are fascinatingly re-created in Alan Gurney's history "Below The Convergence: Voyages Toward Antarctica 1699-1839" (published appropriately enough, by Penguin).

For folks who prefer more penguins and fewer icebergs, there's Kevin Schafer's new book of stunning penguin photographs and insightful essays, "Penguin Planet" (Creative Publishing).

Another great book is "South" (Lyons Press), Sir Ernest Shackleton diaries and notes of his ill-fated 1914-1917 Endurance expedition, featuring his crew's subsequent tales of survival and rescue, as well as Shackleford's photographer and filmmaker Frank Huley's otherworldly collection of lantern slides, Paget plates and newly digitized prints.

Going in an opposite direction, the English novelist Jenny Diski has produced a highly idiosyncratic travelogue, "Skating To Antarctica" (Ecco). During her trip to the region she often neglected the scenery, preferring to stay in her cabin anatomizing her miserable upbringing.

For those of you interested in penguin lessons in workforce diversity, overcoming obstacles and sidestepping stereotypes, then "Pigeonholed in the Land of Penguins" (Amacom) is the book for you. Written by management consultants Warren Schmidt and Barbara Hately, this 160-page collection of motivational tales, tips, illustrations and advice for the workplace, dispenses wit and wisdom in a waddling way. This is a follow-up to their 1995 "A Peacock in the Land of Penguins" (Berrett Koehler).

Elmer, an eight month old gentoo penguin at SeaWorld San Antonio, is alive and well thanks to a quick thinker who found an sticky solution to an even stickier problem.  SeaWorld Penguin specialist Cyndi Laljer took fast action to save the life of an unhatched gentoo chick when she discovered a cracked egg in the marine life adventure park’s Penguin Encounter habitat.  She applied a liberal amount of Elmer’s Glue to prevent the egg’s membrane from drying and tearing.  After two weeks in an incubator, the chick inside began to hatch.  With a little help escaping the glue-reinforced shell, Elmer the penguin was hatched.

“The chances of an unhatched chick surviving in a cracked egg are very slim.  Upon examination, we realized that the egg’s membrane was still intact and the chick was still alive, so we had to try something -- fast,” Laljer said.  “I remembered that Elmer’s Glue is non-toxic, and thought it would be the perfect adhesive to protect the egg.  Once th egg was coated, we still had some concerns about the chick’s survival.  It didn’t have much room inside to grow, because one side of the egg was completely pushed in.”

Today, Elmer delights and educates thousands of visitors at SeaWorld San Antonio.  Since  saving Elmer, SeaWorld bird specialists have successfully used the glue technique to reinforce other cracked eggs and save the lives of other bird species.  They plan to write a scientific paper on the technique for publication to parks nationwide.