Seven Little Ducklings

PreS-Gr 2–A mother duck awakes to find that her seven children have hatched and wandered off into the world. Panicking, she begins rescuing them from various tight spots and ends up with more than seven. Adding to the hilarity, the additional siblings aren’t ducklings at all, but other baby animals from the pond, including a turtle, a mouse, and several other types of waterfowl. With so many babies to count, the plot could easily become complicated, but Cate’s control of the narrative and pacing is superb. Suspense and humor are perfectly balanced. The artistic rendering of the background and pond setting is quiet and cozy, and contrasts brilliantly with the discombobulated, somewhat disheveled appearance of the ducklings. Young readers will never doubt that mother duck will repeatedly save the day and will take care of everyone. Prepare for noisy audiences as the mother duck purposefully disregards the number seven and adopts a diverse cast of orphans, resulting in a total of 13 children.