DANIEL'S DUCK

by Clyde Robert Bulla ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1979

Tum-de-dum Dick-and-Jane storytelling that turns on a supposed blunder that isn't. (On both scores we'd expect better of Bulla.) Apropos of the first: ""Jeff had a good knife. He could carve with it. He could carve things out of wood. He made a dish. He made a cup and a spoon. His mother and father were proud."" Little brother Daniel wants to carve too. He wants to carve an animal like cynosure Henry Pettigrew's. He makes a duck. ""Its head is on backward,"" says Jeff. ""My duck is looking back,"" says Daniel. But not only is this reasonable answer disregarded in the to-do that follows (everyone laughs at Daniel's duck--because they like it, lamely explains Henry Pettigrew), but there's no basis for the to-do altogether insofar as the most prevalent of carved ducks, duck decoys, are frequently made with the duck looking backward. From any point of view, a dud.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1979

Categories: CHILDREN'S