One Duck Stuck - Softcover

Root, Phyllis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076363817X ISBN 13: 9780763638177

Publisher: Candlewick, 2008

Synopsis

"Perfect for reading aloud, this counting book has lots of sound effects that children will love to replicate. . . . Great fun." — Booklist

One duck is stuck in the muck. Can two fish, tails going swish, help? What about three moose, munching on spruce? Will four crickets, chirping in the thickets, manage to pull the unlucky duck out of the muck? Bright, spirited illustrations by Jane Chapman enhance this one-of-a-kind counting tale by Phyllis Root — a feast of sounds and numbers sure to have listeners scrambling to join in the slippy, sloppy fun.

About this title

Review

"Splish, clomp, pleep, plop, plunk, sloosh, slosh, slink, zing." Who can resist a read-aloud featuring sounds like these? When, "Down by the marsh, by the sleepy, slimy marsh, one duck gets stuck in the muck," who comes to the rescue? Two fish, splishing, for starters. Then three moose clomping, four crickets pleeping, and so on. Still, "No luck. Still stuck." It takes a whole lot of teamwork to get this particular stuck duck unstuck from the muck, but this cheerful bunch is definitely up to the task.

From one duck to 10 dragonflies, the muddy fun never stops in Phyllis Root's chunky little board book. Young readers will giggle their way through the numbers, and by the time the duck's foot is released with a "Spluck!" counting will be a cinch. Jane Chapman's lush illustrations are full of marshy colors and muddy detail. The right side of each two-page spread shows the hapless duck earnestly waiting for liberation by its lively rescuers, while on the opposite side the featured number is printed, large and bold, over the text, and the splishers and ploppers are depicted again for easy counting. Chapman's enchanting art is also found in The Emperor's Egg, among other titles, and Root's other popular stories include Kiss the Cow!. (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter

About the Author

Phyllis Root says she wanted ONE DUCK STUCK to be "a north woods wetlands counting book, accurate to the marshes of Minnesota. All the animals are actually found there. I love to go canoeing and camping, and this book is a composite of my experiences."

Jane Chapman does all her painting in her kitchen, looking out onto the garden. "The color blue in ONE DUCK STUCK is the exact same blue that's in my kitchen," she says. Although she has a pet tortoise named Muggs, who at age 70 is a family heirloom, one day she would like to have a duck as well.

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 076363817X
• ISBN 13: 9780763638177
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Chapman Jane
• Number of pages: 40