Peep!

by Kevin Luthardt

Overview

PEEP! A duckling attaches itself to the first thing it sees—a warmhearted young boy—in this charming book about friendship and change.

The duckling follows the boy home, and soon the two are inseparable. But the duckling is growing up. And one day...QUACK! A flock of ducks flies by, and the boy realizes with a great pang of sorrow that his friend will have to return to live among its own kind. A heartwarming twist ending adds to the delight.

Kevin Luthardt's deceptively simple story features charming, colorful illustrations along with humor, emotion, and limited text to tell a special tale of friendship, change, and the importance of learning to let go of something you love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561456826
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	02/07/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	36
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.12(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Kevin Luthardt is an artist, muralist, who work appears in galleries and on the walls of schools and libraries across the Midwest. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, he is the author-illustrator of several picture books. He lives in Illinois.

Editorial Reviews

In his impressive debut, Mine!, Luthardt proved he could breathe new life into a familiar theme (how hard it is to share) with minimal text and bold, chiaroscurist oils. He calls upon those talents again in this nearly wordless book, in which a boy finds an egg that hatches ("Crraaaack!") into a duckling ("peep!"). Even though the boy offers it a cheery "Bye bye" and then admonishes it to "Stay," the duckling follows him home. His parents' skeptical expressions soon turn to acceptance of the boy's new feathered friend, who quickly becomes a cherished part of the boy's life, even making an appearance at show and tell ("Wow" and "Cool!" remark the other students). Subtle changes in palette indicate the passing of seasons, from the duckling's springtime hatching to the summer soccer season. But in autumn, when the duckling hears a flock of ducks in flight, its "peep" morphs into a more adult "quack!" and the boy and his family bittersweetly set the duck free. While Luthardt's pictures have a tableau-like quality, he invests every scene with a visual and emotional depth that draws in the audience. The duck's gleeful and inexhaustible "peep!" becomes another strong graphic element, functioning as both a visual punchline and a mirror of the boy's affection. After the duckling joins a flock, Luthardt makes room for one more word in the short vocabulary list: the "mew!" belonging to a stray kitten that becomes the boy's new pet. All ages. (Mar.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-As a boy walks along a sidewalk, whistling a tune, he sees an egg just beginning to crack open. A yellow duckling soon pops out and utters a "peep!" When the child "peeps" back, the bird becomes imprinted on him and follows him home. The two do everything together, watching TV, playing soccer, and even going to school. When autumn comes, the now-grown duck sees a flock of fellow birds winging south and exchanges its trademark "peep" for a "quack." Sadly, the boy realizes he must say good-bye to his friend. This nearly wordless picture book ends on an upbeat note when the youngster, out walking again, hears a "mew" and finds a new companion. The flat, full-bleed illustrations have well-defined lines, and the art conveys a lot of feeling in its simplicity. The somber colors suit the tale, which is both bittersweet and heartwarming.-Anna DeWind Walls, Milwaukee Public Library Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

"Luthardt does a lot with a little in this delightful book starring a little duck." —Booklist

"[Luthardt] invests every scene with a visual and emotional depth that draws in the audience." —Publishers Weekly

"The flat, full-bleed illustrations have well-defined lines, and the art conveys a lot of feeling in its simplicity. The somber colors suit the tale, which is both bittersweet and heartwarming." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher