Do you know a little person who just LOVES to feed the ducks at the pond? Then this one is a must read.
Just Ducks is a creative picture book from Nicola Davies which elegantly combines fiction and non-fiction, neatly integrating some wonderfully valuable duck-ish titbits.
What a great way to learn.
The lyrical tone to the narrative just begs to be read out loud.
‘The lights on the bridge begin to glow’
I love how Davies takes us through the day of our little duck fan who is woken in the morning by that familiar quacking sound. She sees them before and after school, and tells us about the changes during the year.
Alongside the story narrative Davies expands her readers’ duck knowledge through carefully placed sentences. These are dotted around the page in a smaller font. Alongside many other bite-sized snippets of information she gives the meanings for words such as ‘dabbling’ and ‘upending,’ and explains why ducks spend sooooo much time preening themselves,
I know many kinders are going to adore this book, not least for Salvatore Rubbino’s (A Walk in London) unique illustrations. His colour palette is evocative of Autumn, with warm shades of browns and greens dominating each page.
And that final double page? Pure fun!
Just Ducks! made the The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2013 shortlist.
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