BUBBLE BLAST

Two reluctant ducklings follow the lead of their humongous green sib to discover that bathtime is fun.

Shifting format, the species-diverse family introduced in picture books Duck, Duck, Dinosaur (2016) and Duck, Duck, Dinosaur and the Noise at Night (2017) faces a new challenge when Mama duck announces “Time for a bath.” Although they sport gooey splatters after playing in the mud, yellow ducklings Feather and Flap hang back—“Baths are not fun.” “No bath. No bath”—but scaly theropod Spike leaps exuberantly into the pond: “BATH!” Mama’s mentions of “soap” and “scrubbing” get similar responses from all three…but then Spike’s “BUBBLES!” makes all hesitation vanish, and in no time the three hatchlings are bright, clean, and splashing about happily. Vidal’s mud looks a lot like melted chocolate in the elementally simple illustrations so that at times the little ducklings resemble partially dipped marshmallow peeps, but the contrast between the delicate features of the small yellow birds and their towering brother’s huge, blunt nose and feet is comic gold.

Time for a scrub? It’s all in the marketing.