The clumsy duckling overcomes his growing pains and gets the girl in this wonderfully silly story. Mother mallard gives flying and swimming lessons to her seven young drakes, but Otis always gets distracted by other things. Tadpoles and hummingbirds are fascinating to him—so interesting, in fact, that although he learns to fly he somehow misses the landing lessons. All seven brothers are smitten by Violet, who lives on the same lake. Each shows off his own talents trying to win her favor, but she dreams of a daring duck and a life of adventure. All but Otis give up. Instead, he picks her a bouquet and then crash-lands in the mud during delivery. When she laughs at him, he wanders into the forest and spends a lonely winter. Upon his return, he’s a changed duck—“Jack Quack, Renegade Drake. Prince of the Forest, King of the Lake.” Otis still has mishaps, but now they are seen as daring rescues. Will Violet see through his disguise to the duck she has always dreamed of? Nolan has a masterful pace, mixing the humorous with the adventurous, and making Otis the hero of it all. The marvelously funny illustrations show all of Otis’s clumsy mistakes and rescues. Newcomer Wesson’s watercolors are especially vibrant and detailed, especially in the ducks’ facial expressions. Jack Quack is sure to take off. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7614-5091-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2001
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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