Overview
In a small backyard, by a squat stone fence, five little ducks pitch five duck tents.
The five little ducks are going camping! They can’t wait for a day of fun at the fishing hole. In the evening they sit around the campfire and toast marshmallows. But just as they’re about to snuggle up tight and drift off to sleep, they hear a scary noise. Whooo can it be?
Synopsis
In a small backyard, by a squat stone fence, five little ducks pitch five duck tents.
The five little ducks are going camping! They can’t wait for a day of fun at the fishing hole. In the evening they sit around the campfire and toast marshmallows. But just as they’re about to snuggle up tight and drift off to sleep, they hear a scary noise. Whooo can it be?
Publishers Weekly
With pitch-perfect rhymes that trip merrily along each page and airy, clever watercolors, this companion to Berry and Nakata's Duck Skates and Duck Dunks is infectious. Five ducks bravely go camping in their "small backyard," setting up duck tents, going fishing ("The pole goes zoom. The fish leaps high./ 'We lost the big one!' five ducks cry") and toasting marshmallows ("Outside crispy, inside sticky,/ Chewy, gooey, finger-licky"). The climax comes when the ducks are frightened into their tents after hearing a "whoo-whoo-whoooooo" after night falls. Dressed in overalls and straw hats, Nakata's ducks-with their thumbprint-shaped bodies and stick feet-are remarkably expressive. In a standout nocturnal spread, only the ducks' beaks and eyes, clearly registering worried anticipation, are visible against their midnight blue tents, as they "can't help but hear/ Sounds of the nighttime, loud and clear." In the reassuring denouement, a page turn away, the ducks pile into a tent together-just right for keeping nighttime noises at bay. Readers will be left with a taste for some outdoor adventures of their own. Ages 3-5. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Editorials
Publishers Weekly
With pitch-perfect rhymes that trip merrily along each page and airy, clever watercolors, this companion to Berry and Nakata's Duck Skates and Duck Dunks is infectious. Five ducks bravely go camping in their "small backyard," setting up duck tents, going fishing ("The pole goes zoom. The fish leaps high./ 'We lost the big one!' five ducks cry") and toasting marshmallows ("Outside crispy, inside sticky,/ Chewy, gooey, finger-licky"). The climax comes when the ducks are frightened into their tents after hearing a "whoo-whoo-whoooooo" after night falls. Dressed in overalls and straw hats, Nakata's ducks-with their thumbprint-shaped bodies and stick feet-are remarkably expressive. In a standout nocturnal spread, only the ducks' beaks and eyes, clearly registering worried anticipation, are visible against their midnight blue tents, as they "can't help but hear/ Sounds of the nighttime, loud and clear." In the reassuring denouement, a page turn away, the ducks pile into a tent together-just right for keeping nighttime noises at bay. Readers will be left with a taste for some outdoor adventures of their own. Ages 3-5. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.School Library Journal
PreS-K
That rollicking and adorable quintet of ducks is back in a new seasonal adventure-camping. All of the excitement of living out of doors-pitching tents, fishing, toasting marshmallows-and some of its apprehensions-frightening night noises-are conveyed in bouncy, rhyming text paired with bright, cheerful watercolor illustrations. Young children will delight in the ducks' adventures and mishaps while following the antics of one tag-along squirrel from page to page and absorbing subtle counting and color lessons. Stylish jacket design visually connects this title to its predecessors, Duck Skates (2005) and Duck Dunks (2008, both Holt). Pitch-perfect, it will leave children and adults looking forward to more escapades from these endearing ducks.-Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT