Mr Duck has his fixed routine which he follows every day. At 6.00am he spends an hour stretching; at 7.00am he spends another hour fluffing his feathers; and at 8.01am he glides across his peaceful, still, quiet lake. Day after day, week after week, and year after year he follows this pattern and he his happy.
BUT of course every good story needs a complication. Oh no here comes Pig. It is a hot day and she would like a swim in the pond. Then along comes Cow and she is huge and also hot. If that was not bad enough lots of other farm animals jump in too.
"Mr. Duck sputtered. He muttered. He tail-a-fluttered."
"Mr. Duck grumbled. He mumbled. He flip-flop-fumbled."
"Mr Duck tapped. He flapped. He totally snapped."
He orders everyone out of his pond. Now he can go back to his quiet daily routine but of course something is missing. Problem - solution.
With an older group of children it would be good to talk about the title - is duck mean? Is his business meaningful? How did he discover his life needed to change? Is there a 'lesson' in this story? What do you think the author is trying to tell us? Is it okay to spend time alone?
It can be fun just to browse the shelves of a library - that is how I found this fun book which would be perfect to share with a preschool group.
Do you ever stop to read the dedications in a book? The one in this book by Jeff Mack is quite curious - "For Broccoli Kallock". I wonder if there is someone out in the world with "Broccoli" as their first name? Here is a web site for Jeff Mack and one for Tammi Sauer where you can see their other books.
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