TRUCK IN THE MUCK

Duck makes lemonade from an especially sour lemon.

Duck’s truck is his home on wheels. He’s en route to visit friends (“Ruckity ruck”) when a sudden downpour strands his rig in the mud. Naturally Duck is “mad (and also sad),” but his many pals begin arriving to push: “They heave. They ho.” Alas, it’s no use. The animals are in despair. Duck plucks a lucky clover and realizes a change in perspective may be the answer. After carefully drawing up lists and plans, he creates a mud pool attraction, with a slide, inflatables, a picnic…and some very messy fun for all. So much fun that when the sun dries up the mud, Duck decides not to leave; instead, he gets a hose and creates more mud. Party on! The cartoonish, heavily anthropomorphized characters are amusingly drawn in gentle colors; much humor derives from seeing smaller, less muscular creatures such as Slug, Bug, and Pug giving it their all alongside the likes of Moose and Bear. Gholz’s jaunty verse contains plenty of rhymes, most of which work effectively and may even lure readers into sounding out the words.

A winsome tale that proves that sometimes a shift in attitude—and a team of good friends—is all you need.