OH, DUCKY!

Mr. Peters owns the chocolate factory where elfin Johnny and musical Pauline work. One day while fixing a leak, Johnny accidentally boots his beloved rubber ducky into the chocolate works. Ducky plugs up the machinery. Mr. Peters slaps on a diving suit and plunges into the chocolate-filled pipes. When he pulls Ducky free, he unleashes a chocolate tidal wave. In the aftermath, instead of being angry, Mr. Peters is inspired. He uses Ducky as the model for his new factory and his new line of candy. Everything turns out . . . just ducky. Slonim’s (Moishe’s Miracle, 2000, etc.) story in his first solo effort is simple, jokey, and silly. The reed pen-and-watercolor illustrations are dynamic and endearingly loopy. They are cartoons with talk balloons scattered all over the page, but the text is never lost or hard to follow. There is only one moment of confusing strangeness that is never explained: Mr. Peters meets all manner of undersea creatures in the chocolate pipes while swimming in search of Ducky. This will work better for laps than groups. Coinsurers of the madcap can only hope for more in this vein from Slonim in the future. (Picture book. 3-6)