Let's start with the basics. Punk is a confident young Rockhopper penguin. Well- dressed (when he wears clothes), great tuft and as smart as a barrel full of monkeys (and I am talking capuchins not your dumb howler monkey).

Punk is the unelected leader of the Gang. He is quick witted, calm under pressure and has nice table manners. He enjoys his football and is a big fan of the local Chillville Chiefs Ice Hockey team (as are all of the gang). When he has a little spare time he enjoys reading, his latest favourites being Harry Potter, the Famous Five and the published papers of Einstein.

It has been said that his greatest weakness is his best friend, Poots (although to be fair, it was Punk that said this).

Where can one start in describing Poots. Well, everybody agrees he is special! Not in a normal way, but in a Poots way. He is unique. He is one of a kind. Some say he was dropped on his head as an egg which scrambled his brain. Some say he communicates with vegetables, some say he is a vegetable dressed as a penguin. Well, actually, none of these are true. So what do we know?

He is not the sharpest young penguin! He has been known to do a lap of honour around the classroom when he gets one of his spellings right. He is a little overweight. Poots has always explained this as having a lot of very laidback muscle, and having to eat for 2. That is until it was put to him that in fact he wasn’t pregnant. The fact is Poots likes his food, and anybody elses food for that matter. As Barney sums it up nicely 'he just happens to be one of God's fat butt creatures’.

His first love is Wibbly Pig (or the Lord Wibbly as Pong refers to him), and he owns his full collection of books and toys, his most prized possession being a copy of ‘Everybody Hide From Wibbly Pig’, the pop-up edition signed by Wibbly himself!

A recent incident sums him up nicely. He had just started playing a chess match against one of his Wibbly toys (and before you ask, he doesn’t really know how to play). After flicking a couple of his pieces across the board at the enemy, he decided he needed a little snack. Unfortunately he got a little confused and ate one of his pawns (he was thinking about prawns at the time). This got stuck in his throat and his father had to hold him upside down by the feet and hit him on the back until he spat it out.

What else can one say? He has a very smart tuft which he likens to 'angel hair pasta of the God's'. He is not a bad football player, he makes up a good rhyme, has a very creative imagination when it comes to excuses for not doing his homework and he has a dance for all occasions. Along with the rest of the gang, he enjoys watching the local Chillville Ice Hockey team. His love interest is classmate Sally Seal, and he refers to her as his girlfriend. Unfortunately, he hasn’t mentioned it to her yet, as the right moment never seems to arise. But he assures his friends that she will be very pleased when she hears the news.

Dumb as a fridge, but a lot of fun to have around.

Smart, hard working, a voice of reason and the group's conscience. BJ, the Jelly or No-Knees as she is known, is the calming influence in the team (most of the time).

A fantastic goalkeeper, and drummer of some repute, her eight arms often come in very useful.

Not only is she smart, but she is very conscientious and normally finds herself top of the class, even though she sits at the back of the classroom with the other members of the gang (that is except Mole – see under Mole). So she becomes even more popular when there is homework to be copied.

The muscle, as he calls himself (the rest of the gang call him the muscle-head), is the big guy in the team. Being a polar bear gives him a large height and weight advantage when the games become more physical.

Although he is the big guy, he is extremely polite in adult company, and has been described by Mrs Pong as the most well behaved young polar bear in the South Pole. This sounds very impressive until you realise that polar bears live in the North Pole, and that there are very few to be found in the South Pole.

Although big, Barney is a gentle bear most of the time (although you may not agree if he was sitting on you). A big fan of playing football (even if he is a little slow to the ball), and the owner of the largest Barbie collection in the South Pole. Understandably, he has not yet shared this passion with the rest of his friends.

Very much the odd one out. Mole arrived quite recently in the South Pole with his family, when his father, a mining expert, transferred to the Ice Factory. It has taken him some time to get used to the surroundings and his new classmates.

The biggest shock has been the lack of worms. He now carries a backpack full of them just in case he needs a snack.

Although Mole is definitely part of the gang, Poots is still a little suspicious of anybody who prefers to eats worms over fish and sits at the front of the class. Mole has explained many times that his eyesight is not very strong and he can’t even see Mrs Bowl-of-Onions (see below) from the back of the classroom, let alone anything she may write on the board.

Mole is quiet but very shrewd. He does not shout as much as the others, but he is always worth listening to. He enjoys playing football with his friends (although he is not great, given the size of his legs and the fact he can’t see the ball), digging and listening to classical music (he plays grade 4 violin).

Mrs Bowl-Of-Onions is the gang's long-suffering form teacher at the Snow Falls Elementary School. A kindly fur seal, who has the patience of a saint, and not one of your average saints, but the kindly double patient variety. She is known by everybody as Mrs BOO for short, but not when she can hear.

She very rarely loses her temper and is able to see the good in everybody. She has even been heard to say that Poots had some good points (although this did coincide with him bringing in a new set of pencils).

There is some mystery surrounding the whereabouts of her husband, so she lives alone very close to the school. In her spare time she enjoys reading literature, listening to classical music and being well away from children. Beethoven’s violin concertos are presently a hot favourite.

The darling of Mrs BOO’s elementary class. Sally is a multitalented young seal with very few faults.

She is smart, great at sport, she plays the saxophone to grade 5 and is captain of the school swim team. Unsurprisingly she is Head girl at the school.

As noted before, she is fortunate enough to be Poots’ chosen one, although she is not yet aware of this. So just when she thought life couldn’t get any better, she has this to look forward to!

A streetwise minke whale and Sally’s best friend. She is always to be found at Sally’s side in and out of school.

Mandy sees it as her job to keep a very close eye on the Snow Falls gang and always starts with the assumption they are up to no good. She has no problem being the class sneak and delights at getting the gang into trouble whenever possible.

She has recently become a little jealous of Billie, as she is on good terms with Sally and has no time for Punk & Poots who she calls the PITs (Penguin Idiot Twins – even though they are not really twins).