One Duck Stuck (Book)

Root, P. (1998). One duck stuck. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 0-7636-0334-1

Interest Level: Ages 5 to 3
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Animals, Counting, Stories in Rhyme,

Plot: We start with one duck stuck in muck.  A repeating line of "Help! Help! Who can help?" brings different animals to help the duck.  Readers count to ten as two fish, three moose, fourcrickets, and so on, try to help get the duck unstuck.  Eventually it takes all the animals working together as a team to free the duck.

Personal Thoughts: A cute cumulative counting tale.  What you would think at first glance is just another simple counting book is actually full of different rhyming words and funny sounds.  The animals are energetic, like children, yelling "We can! We can!" when responding to who can help the duck.  The left side of the page has the number in both word and number form directly next to the appropriate number of animals.  The illustrations are bright and colorful done in gouache (an Italian type of richly pigmented watercolor).

Awards/Recognition:
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award Winner
NCTE Notable Children's Book in Language Arts
Parents Magazine Best Books of the Year List

Author Bio and Bibliography
Other Books by the Author: Aunt Nancy and Old Man Trouble (1996); Hop! (2005) My Review; Kiss the Cow (2000)