Bloomsbury Childrens Books (2016)
The book that I chose to evaluate was Duck, Duck, Porcupine! by Salina Yoon. I liked this book because of its use of pictures and its simplicity. The overall theme of this book is discovery and adventure. In this book, the two ducks and the porcupine try new things that might not be the normal way to experience an activity, but they end up making it their own. I would recommend this book for other educator to use in their classrooms because its short stories are for all to enjoy.
In the first adventure of Duck, Duck, Porcupine! the two ducks and the porcupine decide to go on a picnic. It began to rain and the older duck and porcupine were disappointed. However, little duck began to dance and play in the rain, still making it a fun experience. Eventually the older duck and the porcupine joined the little duck and started playing in the rain as well. The next day the two ducks and the porcupine decided they wanted to have a picnic, but the little duck pointed out that it wasn't raining. The ending of this short story in this book is ironic and funny because picnics usually don't associate with rain. However, the two ducks and the porcupine had to much fun in the rain during their picnic, that they believed the rain was what made a picnic a picnic. This is a fun theme and lesson for the story that just because things don't go as planned, it doe not mean that it must be a bad experience. You can make an activity, like a picnic, anything you want it to be rain or shine, as long as you are having fun.
In the second short story of this book, the big duck is trying to figure out something that he forgot to do that day. I think that many can relate to this; the feeling that you are forgetting something but you can't quite put your finger on it. This short story is quite humorous and almost feels as if it could be a short-animated film before a Disney movie. It is humorous because the big duck is walking around trying to figure out what he's forgetting while the little duck knows and is trying to tell the big duck. The thing that the big duck forgot was porcupine's birthday. Little duck tries to remind big duck by showing the big duck a calendar and a birthday card, but every time he tries to tell him, the big duck tells him to be quiet and let him think. Eventually the big duck remembers that it's porcupine's birthday and the little duck is relieved. The last adventure that the two ducks and the porcupine have is similar to the first adventure. In this last short story, the friends decide to go camping. However, they don't know how because they've never been camping before. Big duck decides to make a long list of things that they need- most of the items being unnecessary. Eventually the friends take so long gathering irrelevant items that it becomes dark outside. Thankfully little duck remembered the most important thing; marshmallows. The friends enjoy their camping experience with roasting marshmallows and a lot of unnecessary items that aren't needed for camping.
I enjoyed this book very much and I would recommend it to others to read. It's vivid color in it's pictures is very appealing to readers. I believe that the use of pictures and the dialogue written in the illustrations help the reader better understand the story and makes them more engaged. The simplicity of the storylines in this book are also very helpful for young readers. I believe that this will be a very popular book and will be used in the majority of classrooms today. I can also see the author writing another book about the two ducks and the porcupine but incorporating different experiences for the friends to share together.
Review by Avrial Bailey
