Ducks Quack!

Children's Literature - Heather Christensen

Beginning readers can learn basic information about ducks in this colorful picture book from the "Animal Sounds" series. The author spends little time on the sounds ducks make. Rather, each two-page spread is a color photograph of ducks and ducklings doing ducky things like swimming, eating, flying, or preening. A single sentence in large white or black text (according to the color of the background picture) accompanies each picture, describing or giving basic information, such as "They use their bills to get something to eat." Also on the page is a small text box with more information, perhaps for a more experienced reader. In general, the language is simple, and perhaps a bit dry. A glossary at the end of the book includes terminology introduced in the text, even listing the page number on which the word first appears. Young readers can use this book to get basic facts about ducks for reports or for personal interest. Pair this with an excellent read-aloud like McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings. Reviewer: Heather Christensen