One Duck (32 pp.; $18.95; $6.95 paper; Sept.; 1-55037-561-X; paper 1-55037-560-1): A mother duck nestles down in a field atop twelve eggs, a farmer fires up the tractor, ready for a day’s plowing, and the stage is set for a sudden, potentially tragic encounter. Hutchins (Believing Sophie, 1995, etc.) tells the tale in an abbreviated way that adds to the suspense; against hay-golden backgrounds, Ohi uses scribbles and short pen strokes to create contrasting textures. The farmer sees the nest in time, stops to move it out of the way, and is thereafter rewarded with the sight of mother leading twelve appealingly scruffy ducklings across the road to the pond. It’s a fleeting episode, engrossingly tense, laced with a little natural history, and finished off by a not entirely predictable outcome. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-55037-561-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-88106-075-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
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