Monday, January 18, 2021

Review: Ducks On The Road by Anita Lobel

Tomorrow is the release day for a cute book, which helps young listeners to work on their counting skills... but in a super, adorable way. It's not time for ducks and fuzzy ducklings to go marching across my pasture yet, but Spring is on its way (and doesn't time fly?). While I can count, this one had me smiling the whole way through.

 
DUCKS ON THE ROAD
A Counting Adventure
by Anita Lobel
Paula Wiseman Books
Picture Book
40 pages
ages 4 to 8



From Caldecott Honor artist Anita Lobel comes a touching and classically, vividly illustrated story of a family of ducks out for a walk and the surprises they meet along the way.

When a family of ducks goes out for a walk, their path takes them in unexpected directions—and maybe even to some new friends. Little ones will delight in counting ducks one through ten and identifying the other animals the duck family meets on their country walk.




MY TIDBITS

These little ducklings wiggle and waddle on the sweetest adventure, which just happens to help young listeners work on their counting skills along the way.

The duck family is out for a walk down the road. There are ten ducklings when they start out, but one by one, the ducklings get distracted by other creatures and 'disappear'. 

While counting is the main idea behind this read, it's subtly woven in to a cute and surprised-packed tale. The ducklings are sweet...which ducklings aren't? And the walk in a perfect row behind their parents makes them so easy to count. When they start peeling off and, one by one, meet other cute animals, young listeners are sure to smile and wonder what will happen as well as count the ones who are left. There isn't any danger in this book. Each surprise is a good one, which later brings friendship and more fun than before. The only thing which confused me and my family members was the last creature the ducklings met. Where did it come from? The same parents?

The illustrations are very lovely and a treat to flip through. In some ways, they are repetitive, but there's just enough change to insure young listeners are captivated. In this way, it will be natural for them to concentrate on the line of decreasing ducks and count them again and again.

It's a lovely book and a lovely way to strengthen those number skills.

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