Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck: A Springtime Book For Kids

by Lisa Westberg Peters, Sam Williams (Illustrator)

Overview

What's a cold little duck to do when she races the spring thaw to her home pond and wins? She could shiver, slip, slide, and shake—or think lovely, warm thoughts until nature comes through and brings the pond splashing and quacking to life once again. Lisa Westberg Peters and Sam Williams are inspired harbingers of spring in this irresistible story that's also an unrivaled read-aloud featuring enchanting rhyme and repetition and absolutely winsome illustrations of the cold (but brave!) little duck.

Children's Pick of the Lists 2000(ABA)

2001 Notable Children's Books (ALA)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780688161781
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/01/2000
Series:	Avenues
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,011,543
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lisa Westberg Peters is the author of Sleepyhead Bear; Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck; Earthshake: Poems from the Ground Up; and several other books for children. She lives with her family in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Sam Williams has written, illustrated, and produced numerous books for children, including Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck by Lisa Westberg Peters. The artist lives with his wife in Hertfordshire, England.

Editorial Reviews

In this visually sumptuous testimony to patience and the power of positive thinking, a brown duckling arrives back at her pond a bit too early for spring. Her feet stick to the frozen water--"stuck stuck stuck"--and the brisk air makes her "shake shake shake." But when she concentrates hard on all the wonderful things that warm weather will bring--"crocuses and applebuds/ And blades of grass in squishy mud"--a flock of ducks appears in the sky, with spring right on their webbed heels. With tightly composed vignettes and watercolor spreads, British artist Williams depicts a landscape on the verge of transformation. In the opening pages, his purple skies and expanses of white convey both the physical and spiritual chill of winter; when spring blossoms forth, the pages pulse with heartwarming blues, yellows and greens. Peters's (October Smiled Back) rhythmic text set in huge, elegant type and punctuated on each page by the graphic treatment of a single-syllable evocative verb, acts as just the right introduction to the change of seasons. For example, a spread featuring the text "The ducks flew down, they dipped and splashed" also shows the words "dunk dunk dunk" bobbing in the water, circling a duck with its backside protruding from the pond. All told, a wonderful answer to the perennial question: "Will spring ever get here?" Ages 4-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

PreS-K-"One miserable and frozen spring," a cold little duck flies in to find that her pond is frozen over and her feet stick to the ice. A friendly bear cub tells her that she is too early and should go "back back back." She closes her eyes and thinks very hard about spring, and suddenly the ice melts, the rest of the flock arrives, and "The warm little duck dove into spring/Quack-Quack Quack." The book has a very simple rhythmic text with words at the end of each short phrase repeated three times. It begs to be read aloud so that children can chime in on repetition. The soft pencil-and-watercolor illustrations in lovely pastels evoke the chill of winter and the warmth of spring, creating a beautiful book for sharing with toddlers. Combined with Denise Fleming's In the Small, Small Pond (Holt, 1993) and perhaps Lydia Dabcovich's Sleepy Bear (Dutton, 1985), this title would make a perfect program on seasonal transitions.-Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

School Library Journal

An adorable duckling who flew north a bit too soon gets a temporary case of the shivers. But when spring and her fellow feathered friends finally arrive, it all proves worth the wait. The rhyming text is a marvel of pithy, read-aloud storytelling.
— Parenting

Leonard S. Marcus

A little duck learns the power of positive thinking in this salute to spring. Returning to her pond, the world's cutest duck discovers that winter has not yet relinquished its frigid hold on the area. With her little feet stuck to the ice, the frosty fowl endeavors to hasten the arrival of spring by thinking warm thoughts. As if awakened by the sheer willpower of the duck, spring arrives, bringing balmy breezes to melt the icy pond as well as a flock of her feathered friends. Peters's (October Smiled Back, 1997) verses sing a duck's ode to vernal season: "Of crocuses and apple buds/And blades of grass in squishy mud." The sprightly, rhyming verses are featured in oversized black lettering. Cleverly incorporated into the illustrations is a subtext highlighting the action of each page: "Of wiggly worms and shiny beetles—black, black, black . . . . And blades of grass in squishy mud—snack, snack, snack." Children will readily join in on these lively chants making this a rollicking read aloud experience. Williams's soft watercolors fill the pages, capturing the splendor of spring, impossibly fluffy little ducklings frolicking about, azure skies and fresh green fields. A charming tale on its own, this is also a great way to introduce the wonder of the changing seasons to children. Sweet, sweet, sweet. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews