DUCK’S KEY, WHERE CAN IT BE?

Good lift-the-flap books provide a sense of discovery and the engaging pleasures of being a co-conspirator. This one from Alborough is a good one, exercising the bean while tickling the bone. It is a very simple affair: Duck, with his feather-fingered hands as big as Shaquille O’Neal and his cavernous orange beak, has lost the keys to his truck. But not so fast—they have actually been purloined by frog, who hides behind various features on the page and invites readers to join his game of hide-and-seek. Attentive kids will note a developing pattern and little clues. At 18 pages, the ruse won’t be extended into cruelty, and the ending is a gift to the duck, who merrily drives off without his suitcase. The air of mischief is light and fun and the sturdy-paper construction should keep the flaps flapping for many a hard yank. (Picture book. 2-4)