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Duckie's Rainbow

Name: Duckie's Rainbow
Author: Frances Barry
ISBN: 9781406331868

by Frances Barry

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Overview

Turn the graduated pages of this unique shaped book to help Duckie find her way home — and you’ll marvel at the dazzling rainbow that appears when she gets there.

Duckie is in a hurry to get home. She walks through a red poppy field, hops under an orange bridge, waddles around a yellow cornfield, rushes past a big green tree, and paddles across a deep blue pond. By the time she reaches her nest, purple clouds have begun to rain, but don’t worry — the book’s rounded pages, each one smaller than the last, form a spectacular rainbow on the last spread! With the boldest of colors and enchantingly simple shapes, Frances Barry’s collage illustrations combine with an ingenious format for an eye-popping concept-book debut.

About the Author, Frances Barry

Frances Barry says the idea for DUCKIE'S RAINBOW came to her "on the top deck of a London bus. Not that I saw a rainbow, but I’ve always found it a great place to brainstorm with a sketchbook! I named the character Duckie because it was a term of endearment my great-aunt used for everyone." Frances Barry has worked as a designer of greeting cards and stationery and has painted several public and private murals. This is her first book.

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Editorials

From The Critics

This book's unusual fan shape is the first hint at the big surprise awaiting little ones. When opened, it forms a semicircle, and each spread is a brilliantly painted scene in which Duckie explores a "red poppy field" or "cool blue pond." Every turn of the page reveals a colorful rounded border, creating a rainbow at the end. The vivid hues and bold images make the book eye-catching even to the very young. (Ages birth to 2)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2004

Publishers Weekly

Another playful color lesson, the paper-over-board Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry starts out as a quarter-circle and doubles to a half-circle when youngsters open the cover. As readers follow the feathered heroine's journey "through the red poppy field," "under the orange bridge" and onward, the book continues to change: the pages, decreasing in size, begin to form a large rainbow that stretches across the book's full width-with the colors in their proper order (ROYGBIV). Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

Duckie is on her way home. On the way, she goes through red poppy fields, under an orange bridge, through yellow cornfields, and through other things in nature that are the different colors of the rainbow. The book is shaped like a half-rainbow. When the book is open it makes a complete arch. As the reader turns the pages of the book, each page is a smaller arch and another color of the rainbow appears. When Duckie finally reaches home, it rains. After the rain stops, she is able to see the rainbow that the reader has been discovering all along her journey. This book mentions each color of the rainbow and shows different shades of the color on the page. The collage illustrations present a kid-friendly glimpse into the settings that Duckie finds herself in on her way home. This book is a simple but fun way for toddlers to be excited about colors and rainbows. It is sure to impress a toddler when the rainbow is revealed at the end. 2004, Candlewick Press, Ages 2 to 4.
—Marcie Flinchum Atkins

School Library Journal

PreS-Duckie is hurrying home to her nest. On the way she encounters a field of red poppies, an orange bridge, yellow corn, and more. This deceptively simple, fan-shaped concept book is wonderfully creative. Each spread adds its color to an arc at the top of the page; at the end, Duckie sees a beautiful rainbow. The pages are graduated so that when opened the book is a half-circle showing the rings of color. The collage art is basic and the hues are bright. Duckie will appeal to preschoolers, especially toddlers, and be a great addition to storytimes.-Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Duckie hurries across paper collage scenes on double-paged spreads of supersaturated color, each one smaller than the last. When opened, each set of pages forms a half-round of extra-heavy card stock, backgrounds awash in the stated color. Duckie starts out in a red poppy field, and "hopped under the orange bridge . . . and waddled around the yellow cornfield." After the green tree and the blue pond, she gets caught in an indigo shower that gives way to a brilliant rainbow on the final opening, thanks to the increasingly smaller pages. Young viewers will be drawn to the quarter-circle shaped cover, and mesmerized by the hues within this dazzling prelude to Lois Ehlert's "Rainbow" titles. Fans of The Very Hungry Caterpillar will be pleased, too. A bright and appealing debut for the diaper set. (Picture book. 3-6)