Pablo and Splash
Pablo and Splash, written and illustrated by Sheena Dempsey, is the sixth title in the 2026 Blue Peter Book Club.
Watch the animation below to discover more about the book.
Antarctic penguins Pablo and Splash are polar opposites and besties for life.
Wanting to be somewhere warmer, Splash persuades Pablo to go on holiday with her.
But far from the luxury beach destination that Splash has in mind, the pair end up in a time travel machine and are taken back to the age of dinosaurs.
Suddenly, being back home in Antarctica doesn't seem so bad after all.
Antarctic penguins Pablo and Splash are polar opposites and besties for life. Pablo is a homebird and a careful planner. Splash is easily bored and hungry for adventure.
Sick to her flippers of the harsh, freezing weather, Splash persuades Pablo to go on a holiday with her. But far from the luxury beach destination that Splash has in mind, the pair end up in a time-travel machine that takes them back to the age of the dinosaurs! Suddenly their icy homeland doesn't seem so dull .
Find out more by heading over to Blue Peter Book Club.
What is a graphic novel?
Pablo and Splash is a graphic novel. Graphic novels tell a story using both pictures and words.
They use detailed, colourful drawings and speech bubbles to move the story along, instead of long paragraphs.
Comics are similar to a graphic novel, but are usually shorter.
The images in a graphic novel are organised into lots of panels (boxes that show small parts of the story).
Like a normal book, the panels are read from left to right as the reader moves down the page.
The expressive artwork inside each panel helps the reader to understand what is happening and how the characters are feeling!
How can text be presented in graphic novels?
In graphic novels, like Pablo and Splash, text is presented in different ways.
Speech bubbles, thought clouds and sound bursts make it easy to see how words and sounds come to life in the story.
Speech bubbles show what the characters are saying out loud. They are usually round or an oval-shaped.
Thought clouds show what the characters are thinking inside their heads. They usually look like a cloud.
Sound bursts show loud noises or actions. They have jagged edges and look like an explosion to make a sound feel more exciting as it is read.
The sound words inside a burst are sometimes called onomatopoeia - words that sound like their meaning.
What is character development?
In graphic novels, a character’s feelings and actions can change as the story goes on. These changes are called character development.
A good example of character development can be seen in Professor O’Brain.
When Professor O’Brain is first introduced, Pablo and Splash think she is scary and a little bit evil. However, by the end of the story, their opinion of Professor O’Brain has completely changed!
Character development is important because it can make stories more interesting to read. As characters develop, the reader starts to understand how different characters feel and can learn lessons from their choices and adventures!
Example 1
Take a look at the extract below from Pablo and Splash (page 57).
Pablo and Splash is a graphic novel. Graphic novels tell stories using pictures as well as words.
What other features tell you that it is a graphic novel?
✓ On this page we can see two panels, images, speech bubbles and sound words.
These are all important features of a graphic novel.
Example 2
Let's have a look at another example.
In graphic novels, words are presented in fun and interesting ways.
Speech bubbles show what characters are saying out loud.
Thought clouds show what they are thinking inside their heads.
Sound bursts show loud noises and sound words.
Take a look at this panel from Pablo and Splash (page 127), what types of text are presented?
✓ Speech bubble and sound burst.
Example 3
Let's have a look at this final example.
Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like the noise it is describing.
Pablo and Splash has lots of examples of onomatopoeia. Using these words can make a story fun and engaging, so it feels like the reader can actually hear the action!
Can you spot the onomatopoeic word in this panel?
✓ 'CRASH!' is the onomatopoeic word because it perfectly describes the sound of the ladder falling to the ground!
Blue Peter Book Club
Join Shini and the Book Clubbers talk about their favourite bits of Pablo and Splash.
If you like graphic novels and love funny stories and cute penguins, then you need to read this book.
Do you love pictures that tell a story as well as words on a page? Do. Well, then you're going to love Pablo and Splash by Sheena Dempsey, the latest read in our BP book Club.
Our book clubbers today are James, Jessie, Charlotte, Matilda and George. And what better place to delve into a book about animals than a wildlife park?
Well, we're about to set off on a penguin adventure of our own, but first let's find out what the book clubbers thought about the time travelling tale.
I thought the illustration built your imagination each time when you're like, this can't get any better, but then it would just get better.
I liked how Splash was like really fun and just did it in her own way.
And Pablo, he's very smart. He knows what a motherboard is and he's very smart for a penguin.
They kind of balanced themselves out.
What did you think about the actual adventure that they went on?
It was really funny because they think they've gone to like the Bahamas or something, but they don't actually know that they're in this Cretaceous period.
And it's Pablo who first realises because he's really smart. And then, like, this giant dinosaur comes out and he just starts riding it.
Right, all this talk about penguins, what do you say we go find some?
Yeah!
Let's do it. Let's go lets go.
Penguins!
Oh look at that little baby one!
Wow! So cute.
Well, if they loved Pablo and Splash, they'll love getting hands on preparing lunch for the park's 27 Humboldt penguins. And keeper Laura is here to help us prepare a fishy feast.
So how are Humboldt penguins different to Pablo and Splash from Antarctic?
So you normally get, like the emperor penguins down in Antarctica? Um, and they're much larger. They're the biggest penguin species. Whereas the ones that live where it's a little bit warmer tend to be a bit smaller.
Pablo and Splash are quite big characters in the book. Are there two big characters here?
Yeah. So, up behind us we have Stephen with the orange band. He's a really good daddy, and he's really protective of his chicks and of his nest.
And we have Ripley, who likes to bite our legs. She's a little bit feistier, but I respect her for that. I like that she's sassy.
How did these types of penguins bray? Because whenever they seem to bray, they always lift their head up.
They do. So it's called like, an ecstatic display. So they really pumped their chest. So as you can see, they put the wings out too, so they're probably doing it there. I love that. Fab!
That was good. Wow, I like that.
Right. Laura, I think the fish are ready. Can we feed them now?
Definitely. Let's go over.
Chuck it in. See him dive in. That's it.
As we get busy feeding the penguins at lunch, I grab the book clubbers to see what they've taken from the book.
I thought that there was a good message that came through with it. When Splash comes into the role of the hero, even though you would expect Pablo is going to be one to save them, and he leads them through probably the toughest time in the book, which I think is a really important message that no matter what your normal personality is, you can always change it to make sure that you can help anybody.
The author has made it into like a really big, powerful moment. In the end, they just realise, I just want to stay at home.
Sometimes everything you need is right beside you, right?
It's right under your nose.
Yeah!
Penguin encounter complete.
There's just time to meet one more of the park's residents. We've gone from one super cute animal to another.
Guys, it's a capybara.
Do we like capybaras?
Yeah
Aren't they so cute.
Well, it's been incredible hearing about what you guys think of the book, but if you've read our home, send us a review and you could get one of these. A Blue Peter book badge. But for now, what do you say we stroke the capybara?
Definitely. Yeah
Let's do it.
Can you try to write your own story using onomatopoeia? Remember, onomatopoeia is when the word sounds like the noise.
Have a go at creating your own comic strip. Where might Pablo and Splash go next?
Both of these will help you earn your Blue Peter Book Club badge, which you can read about here.
Quiz
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