Penguin Problems

Another work storytime miss. The kids got annoyed by the fifth page of complaints, though they did enjoy looking at the artwork. The walrus harangue went completely over their heads, and I had to define three words for them to understand what was meant. The older two were disgusted when the penguin complained again, and half asked me to read a different story.

What is up with modern picture book writers giving us whiny characters and then doing an info dump with twenty dollar words that most adults couldn't define?