How to use this Page

Quackers Written and Illustrated by Liz Wong Alfred A. Knopf BYR    3/22/2016 978-0-553511543 32 pages    Ages 3—6 “Quackers is a duck. Sure, he may have paws and whiskers. And his quacks might sound more like…well, meows, but he lives among ducks, everyone he knows is a duck, and he’s happy. Then Quackers meets …

Add a Comment

The 4th book in the Debbie Estrem's Seasons series for preschoolers is coming just in time for SPRING!

Add a Comment

Go Ducky, Go Lyle’s school is hosting The Great Duck Race and he has a ticket.

Add a Comment

Filed under: Brian Tappin, journeys, love, one-tooth dog, sea

Add a Comment

Filed under: Brian Tappin, journeys, love, one-tooth dog, sea

Display Comments Add a Comment

I have my first contender for the very best picture book I’ll read all 2015.

The Duck and the Darklings written by Glenda Millard, and illustrated by Stephen Michael King is a gentle and powerful heart salve. It is a tiny yet quenching oasis of love and hope. It is funny and quirky and lyrical and poignant and lovely in that way that makes your lips feel a little like singing when you read its words.

Grandpa and Peterboy live underground because the earth above has fallen into ruin. A quiet air of melancholy pervades their home whilst they remember happier, healthier and brighter times past. One day Peterboy finds a wounded duck which he brings home, even though they have little food to share. Compassion, thoughtfulness and generosity heal the duck, but once she is well enough she is drawn by instinct to leave and fly across the skies. The thought of losing his new friend makes Peterboy sad. Can he let that which he loves go?

Millard has written an exquisite story about hope and friendship. Rarely will you come across a picture book full with such glorious verbal imagery, where in almost every line words and sentences feel like they have been recast, hewn afresh from the language we use everyday. Melodic and evocative, I can’t remember the last time I read aloud a picture book and so enjoyed simply feeling and hearing the sentences blossom into the air as I shared the story.

With echoes of Leonni’s Frederick, The Duck and the Darklings explores the power of stories, real, remembered and imagined, to sustain us. For me it was also a metaphor for mourning and a way through, back to finding a sense of hope after experiencing depression, and how building relationships, even if they ultimately change and move on, is a that which brings us life.

M and J probably didn’t react the same way, I shall freely admit! As child readers of this book they adored its unconventionality, its playfulness, its whimsy. Grandpa in the book is highly inventive (there are many illustrations of his contraptions), Peterboy is brave, inquisitive and kind. He has freedom to roam and a valued role in the family and both these aspects also hugely appealed to my kids.

King’s illustrations are a perfect match for this very special story. With lots of black, dark blues and purples, mixing seemingly chaotic splashes and brushes with fine detail, humour and increasing use of colour as hope gradually fills the world between the book’s pages, King has created a beguiling landscape.

To paraphrase a line from The Duck and the Darklings, when I’m searching for books to share with my family and with you here on the blog, I wish “for more than crumbs and crusts”; I wish for “scrap[s] of wonderfulness.” And a piece of wonderfulness is truly what this book is.

Inspired by the darkness and the forest and flowers which grow as the earth heals, thanks to the blooming of hope and friendship between Peterboy, Idaduck and Grandpa, we created our own sculpture taking King’s illustrations as are starting point. To create the sculpture we used a large cardboard box, a piece of polystyrene (packaging from another box), jam jar and bottle lids, twigs, acrylic paint and tape.

First J painted the inside of the cardboard box and the twigs black, matching the black stemmed plants in King’s illustrations. She also painted the back of the lids black (where they weren’t already black), and the insides of the lids bright colours. For all of this it was important to use acrylic paint (rather than poster paint) as it adheres to almost any surface, including wood, metal and plastic.

Once the paint was dry we used the tape to stick the lids on the ends of the twigs to create “flowers”, which we embellished with paper leaves.

Then to bring light into our sculpture we used small batteries and LEDs to create pinpricks of magic.

I think you can just about see in the photo series below how J loved the “magic” of being able to turn the LED on by positioning it carefully on the battery. A simple but exciting introduction to electricity and circuits! We used small CR2032 3V lithium batteries and 5mm LEDs, and what J had to investigate is what difference it made as to which side of the battery the long leg of the LED (LEDs have one long leg, and one short) needed to be on, in order for the LED to light up. Once she’d cracked the magic-making we used electrical tape to fix the LEDs in position, taping around both legs of the LED and the battery to prevent any movement.

J stuck her LED lights through holes in the boxes once we’d assembled all our flowers inside the large cardboard box she’d painting black. To help the flowers stand upright, I “hid” a piece of polystyrene packaging under the base of the box. Thus, when J made a hole for her flower to stand in, the flower’s stem also went into the thick polystyrene base, helping it to stay vertical. You can just see the polystyrene in the picture – under the flap at the bottom of the box.

Finally we turned off all the lights in our room and entered into our own Darkness, gradually filling with light and hope and renewal.

Whilst making our garden in the darkness we listened to music I think could light up any darkness:

As steals the Morn by Handel, sung here by Mark Padmore and played by the English Consort. Exquisite, soothing, restorative.

Bless the glad earth also by Handel, the last piece in Act 2 of his opera Semele. You can see the production which moved me to tears the first time I saw it here, with ‘Bless the glad earth’ starting around the 45 minute mark. Yeah, I know it’s opera, but don’t think the kids won’t enjoy it; in my experience the “dressing up”, the theatricality, and the whole pomp of it can appeal to kids quite a lot! Just like many kids can fall in love with going to see a ballet, I’m convinced just as many could enjoy opera if given half a chance.

Other activities which might go really well with reading The Duck and the Darklings include:

Creating a candle hat just like those worn by the Darklings. Seeing as we’re on a role with LEDs I might use one of them, but alternatively you could create a candle out of toilet rolls like Creative Jewish Mom did and attach to your favourite hat (or make one like these from Ikat Bag)

Reading the Kingdom of Silk series by the same author and illustrator pair. It’s actually thanks to this series of short novels for young children that I discovered The Duck and the Darklings. The series is remarkable and I will be reviewing this hopefully next month on the blog, but I can’t resist an extra opportunity to bring it to your attention as it is something rare and incredible.

Have you read anything yet this year which has simply taken your breath away?

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of The Duck and the Darklings from the UK distributors, Murdoch Books (YES! This Australian book is easily available here in the UK, your local bookshop should be able to order it without you having to resort to Amazon).

Display Comments Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

3 Stars Autobiography of a Duck John Arnold 36 Pages    Ages:  7 and  up …………. Autobiography of a Duck is just that, the life of one Pekin Duck, not a chick, as told by the duck. Duck hatched and then lived with his siblings and his mother on a farm. Then one day, some humans [...]

Add a Comment

Can you believe it’s the very last day of Picture Book Month 2012?

Holidays is the theme of the day, and in taking that to mean festive celebrations, I’ve chosen to wrap up a wonderful month with a gentle, charming, heart-melting story set at Christmas: Ernest & Celestine by Gabrielle Vincent, translated by Sam Alexander.

Celestine, a mouse, and Ernest, a bear, are perhaps an unlikely pair of friends. But good friends, thoughtful and kind friends is what they are. So when one wintry day out on a walk Celestine loses her favourite toy, Ernest is determined to make things better.

Ernest’s first attempt to make everything all right doesn’t work, but a second attempt puts a smile back on Celestine’s face. Then to spread the goodwill and to ensure that Ernest’s earlier attempts don’t go to waste, friends and neighbours are invited around to celebrate Christmas together.

It’s a terribly simple story, with the drama familiar from other tales (I first thought of that terrible moment in On the Banks of Plum Creek when Laura discovers her beloved Charlotte abandoned by Anna Nelson in a frozen puddle, and more recently there’s Mini Grey’s Lost in Space) but several aspects of this book make it stand out, head and shoulders above other similar books on offer this season.

Vincent’s illustrations are graceful, full of poise and seemingly effortless. They are soothing and calm. They are what I imagine a lullaby might look like – and certainly this book would make perfect bed time reading. Ernest and Celestine are two characters it is very easy to fall in love with. Their expressions and body language are all about love and care, about that sort of connection you feel when all you want to do is scoop up your child and hug them tight.

The tender illustrations are given centre stage by the minimal text which accompanies them. This book is an example par excellence of where the relationship between image and word is full of breathing space, where scenes and phrases are left lingering in the air to savour. There’s no “He said,” or “She said,”, no “Then this happened,” or “that happened,” but rather the reader and listener need to take their time to sew the threads together, This slower pace adds to the calm, soothing feeling I’m sure will envelop all readers and listeners of this book.

A book full of reassurance, joy, and deep, profound love, sprinkled all over with a dusting of sparkling snow and a Christmas party to boot – I’m not sure there’s a better picture book to be found under your tree this year.

Ernest and Celestine was originally published in French in 1981 under the title Ernest et Célestine ont perdu Siméon. It was a great success, and more than 20 further Ernest and Celestine books were published. Some of these were translated into English in the 1980s by various publishers, but all are now out of print.

Catnip, the publishers of this Ernest and Celestine, will be bringing out The Picnic (Ernest et Célestine vont pique-niquer) in April next year, and plan to publish one to two Ernest and Celestine books a year if they take off in the way they deserve to.

Hopefully the new animated film based on the characters Ernest and Celestine, with a script written by Daniel Pennac, will boost the books’ popularity. You might like to watch a trailer for the film (although I don’t think the animation is as beautiful as the original illustrations):

A busy week means that we haven’t yet played out this book as per the kids’ request – the plan is to spend the weekend making a pram out of cardboard, plumbing pipes and a broom handle (sounds crazy, but the plan IS a good one!). Celestine has a lovely pram which she plays with and that’s what what we’re going to try to make together.

Instead, however, you could “play by the book” by:

Making a soft toy based on a drawing by a child – Celestine draws a picture of her lost toy for Ernest, which he then uses as the basis to sew a new one for Celestine. Child’s Own Studio are a business doing exactly this, but you could make a much simpler one like we did here.

Going for a stomp in the snow, perhaps taking The Snowy Day by Jack Ezra Keats along with you.

Making Duck toys – lots of duck toys peep out from behind boxes and furniture in the illustrations of this book, and this tutorial from About.com is pretty kid friendly.

Now one last thing before I wrap up for this month…

If I could have chosen the theme for today, I would have simply chosen Celebration – because that’s what this month has been – one great big celebration of everything a picture book can be. Huge thanks go to Dianne de Las Casas for all her hard work and enthusiasm throughout the month, and for having the vision to create this month-long party. Well done Dianne! And here’s to Picture Book Month 2013!

Display Comments Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

As a kid I loved looking for the yellow duck which hid in the pages of books illustrated by Stephen Cartwright. I first discovered the yellow duck in Cartwright’s First Thousand Words in English. There was something very magical about looking at (what seemed like) the entire world I knew spread before me in this bright yellow book.

Although Cartwright died in 2004 (you can read an obituary from the Guardian here), his work lives on and is still an important part of childhood for many kids growing up in the UK. Whether it’s through Farmyard Tales or the First Experiences series, the yellow duck continues to hide and delight kids everywhere.

This month Usborne are celebrating 35 years of publishing Stephen Cartwright’s illustrations and as part of the celebrations I’ve got a great giveaway here on the blog. Find the yellow duck and you could win a brilliant bundle including:-

a Farmyard Tales Animals Sticker Book

2 Farmyard Tales flip books

a Farmyard Tales colouring book

a First thousand words in English pack

and a duck toy

He’s hiding somewhere on my blog… so find him, let me know where he’s got to and you’ll be entered into the draw for the prize. The duck you’re searching for looks exactly like the one above, but is not the one on this page

Here are the details:

To enter this giveaway you must find the yellow duck who is hiding somewhere on my blog and then tell me where he is hiding. CLUE: On the right-hand side of this screen is a list of topics/themes and using this will help you find the yellow duck. I can tell you that the yellow duck has gone to be with another of his species created by an illustrator who is not short but who will make him laugh.

So that the location of the duck remains secret, please enter the giveaway using this contact form (comments on this post are disabled). In your message make sure to include the URL of the page/post where the yellow duck is hiding:

[contact-form-7]

The giveaway closes on Wednesday September 12th 6am. The winner will be selected at random from those who have told me where the yellow duck is hiding, and will be contacted via email that day. The winner will have one week to get back in touch with me with their postal address. If I have not heard from the winner by September 17th I will redraw the winner.

This giveaway is open to UK residents only.

Whether or not you can find the yellow duck on my blog you can follow him on twitter @Find_the_Duck and find him on Facebook www.facebook.com/usbornelittleyellowduck.

Wishing you lots of luck with finding the duck!

So far 0 people have entered this giveaway.

Display Comments Add a Comment

July 1, 2012…. Happy Mid Year!

This is exactly the midpoint of this year.  Most of us only make New Year’s Resolutions; or really attend to projects at their beginning point; or only have great starts to their races –

but Puppicasso knows that the hinge of everything lies in survival of getting through the bend of the middle.

To that he asks me, “What’s your mid-year resolution?”  He never waits for my response to any question since he has other needs at present, always at present.

Those needs take us to the outside, and that’s where we see them, the unexpected guests…

ducks in the alley in the Valley.

I have seen ducks walking around before, but never in the civilized wild, only in parks or in Memphis at the Peabody Hotel, but never casually strolling.  And indeed never in an alley.

So Puppi and I follow the pair of ducks to the midpoint of the alley, I think they got wind of us, so as not to disturb their unique path, we turned back around and ventured elsewhere for his business, which included the usual mischief of barking at Shadow and finding a compost heap to do a quick face rub in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgM_wycelGw&feature=youtu.be

By the time we got back, the ducks were at the top of the alley again, where we found them the first time.

Maybe they are in purgatory, but more likely they are at their midpoint.  Puppicasso says that I can give myself a break at my midpoint –  I don’t have to meet my New Year’s goal, simply start a Mid-year one.

Thanks Puppi, I needed that do-over.

Filed under: Puppicasso Predictions, Uncategorized Tagged: 2012 Predictions, Cute, Dog, duck, ducks, New Year's Resolutions

0 Comments on Puppicasso Predictions #183 as of 1/1/1900

Add a Comment

So many great picture books have passed my desk lately.  Here are a few:

• Joose, Barbara. 2012. Old Robert and the Sea-Silly Cats. Ill. by Jan Jutte. New York: Philomel.

Each night, Old Robert counts "his regular things in their regular place"

Clean socks
a clock
my ship in the slip at the dock.
One dish
one spoon
a slice of the silver moon.

Things are always the same until the night a cat asks to come in.  There was no room for a cat on Old Robert's boat,

And yet ...
        and yet ...
               Old Robert said yes ...
... and the cat came in.

This is a delightfully, quirky story about Old Robert, his boat, and how one small decision can change a life (or two, or three, or ...).  Illustrations by the Netherlands' Jan Jutte, give Old Robert and the Sea-Silly Cats a salty and silly air reminiscent of old comics (think Popeye or original Tin Tin) touched with whimsy.  Comforting, repetitive refrains make this a great read aloud. 

There is just something irresistible about Old Robert and the Sea-Silly Cats.

And there's apparently a song available, too,  "Old Roberts Jig" by the Happy Racers.

• Elya, Susan Middleton. 2012. Fire! ¡Fuego! Brave Bomberos. Ill. by Dan Santat. New York: Bloomsbury.

My husband has had a long and wonderful career in the fire department, so I'll admit some partiality to firefighter books, even ones that feature firefighters rescuing cats from trees.  For the record, professional firefighters don't rescue cats from trees. They will, however, rescue animals from fires, and in Fire! ¡Fuego! Brave Bomberos, a house fire traps a poor kitty on an upper floor,

Climbing up la escalera,
KITTY, KITTY,
COME AFUERA.
Coaxed by food in small pedazos,
kitten jumps to outstretched brazos.

See how easy that was?  You're speaking Spanish. Even without the brightly colored double spread illustration of a firefighter on a ladder, hand extended with cat treats, you knew what it meant, and kids will too!  The story rhymes, the meter's fine, and if you need help with pronunciation, it's all in the Glossary.  All bias aside, I like it!

• Kohuth, Jane. 2012. Duck Sock Hop. Ill. by Jane Porter. New York: Pen
  2 Comments on Picture Book Roundup - May edition, last added: 5/31/2012
  Display Comments
  Kerry Aradhya said, on 5/31/2012 10:13:00 AM
  

  Fun roundup! I hadn't heard of the first two books, but they both look great. And I keep hearing about Duck Sock Hop but haven't read it yet. I'd love to get my hands on a copy someday soon :)

  Jeff Barger said, on 5/31/2012 5:07:00 PM
  

  These look great! You can't go wrong with fire fighters, dancing ducks, or cute ballerinas. It's recital season so Bea would be especially popular right now. Thank you for sharing!

  Add a Comment