What is it with children’s book writers and quirky ducks? In
the last few years, we’ve seen gay ducks, assembly-line ducks, political ducks,
unwelcome-houseguest ducks, and feuding ducks, to name just a few. I suppose
this tradition goes back as far as duck-in-drag Jemima Puddle-Duck and outsider-duck The Ugly Duckling, so we’ll probably be seeing those wacky ducks
in our kids’ books for decades to come. With that in mind, here’s a brand new
one that’s worth a look: The Duck Who
Played Kazoo.
Written by Amy E. Sklansky and illustrated in appropriately
wet-looking watercolors and pastels by Tiphanie Beeke, The Duck Who Played Kazoo is a verse book about a duck who spends
his days kazooing his heart out (“La ditty, da ditty, zu zu”) on his favorite
lake. Sadly, a hurricane has hit the lake – shades of Katrina here – leaving
him all alone with only his kazoo for companionship. So he flies south, finds
another group of duck friends to play music with, and eventually convinces them
to fly back to his hometown lake for springtime. It’s a sweet little spin on
the idea of migration – especially relevant if you live in a place where V’s of
ducks fly overhead each fall and spring. – Gwynne Watkins
The Duck Who Played Kazoo (Clarion Books, February 18th) by Amy E. Sklansky and Tiphanie Beeke is available on Amazon.
Book of the Week appears every other Friday. Sometimes every
Friday. We’re fickle like that.
