Product Description

What's a cold little duck to do when she races the spring thaw to her home pond and wins? She could shiver, slip, slide, and shake--or think lovely, warm thoughts until nature comes through and brings the pond splashing and quacking to life once again. Lisa Westberg Peters and Sam Williams are inspired harbingers of spring in this irresistible story that's also an unrivaled read-aloud featuring enchanting rhyme and repetition and absolutely winsome illustrations of the cold (but brave!) little duck.

Children's Pick of the Lists 2000(ABA)

2001 Notable Children's Books (ALA)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1022365 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-16
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .46" h x 11.34" w x 8.81" l, .84 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Amazon.com
When a cold little duck returns to her pond too early one "miserable and frozen spring," she receives an unpleasant surprise: her feet freeze to the ice ("stuck stuck stuck"). She tucks her head under her wing and begins to think warm thoughts of spring: "wiggly worms and shiny beetles" ("black black black") and "blades of grass in squishy mud" ("snack snack snack"). Her quiet and creative patience pays off, and before she knows it, spring has truly arrived, along with a group of ducks who touch down on the little pond beside the not-so-cold little duck.

The power of dreams and positive thinking is born out in this charming story of a duck that won't give up. Young readers will dream along with the feisty little duck, and rejoice when the ice cracks and she can wiggle her tail, waggle her wings, and kick kick kick her feet. Sam Williams's soft little duck and her pleasant reveries will linger in the reader's mind, as will the big, bold, rhyming text of Lisa Westberg Peters. (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
In this visually sumptuous testimony to patience and the power of positive thinking, a brown duckling arrives back at her pond a bit too early for spring. Her feet stick to the frozen waterA"stuck stuck stuck"Aand the brisk air makes her "shake shake shake." But when she concentrates hard on all the wonderful things that warm weather will bringA"crocuses and applebuds/ And blades of grass in squishy mud"Aa flock of ducks appears in the sky, with spring right on their webbed heels. With tightly composed vignettes and watercolor spreads, British artist Williams depicts a landscape on the verge of transformation. In the opening pages, his purple skies and expanses of white convey both the physical and spiritual chill of winter; when spring blossoms forth, the pages pulse with heartwarming blues, yellows and greens. Peters's (October Smiled Back) rhythmic text set in huge, elegant type and punctuated on each page by the graphic treatment of a single-syllable evocative verb, acts as just the right introduction to the change of seasons. For example, a spread featuring the text "The ducks flew down, they dipped and splashed" also shows the words "dunk dunk dunk" bobbing in the water, circling a duck with its backside protruding from the pond. All told, a wonderful answer to the perennial question: "Will spring ever get here?" Ages 4-up. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K-"One miserable and frozen spring," a cold little duck flies in to find that her pond is frozen over and her feet stick to the ice. A friendly bear cub tells her that she is too early and should go "back back back." She closes her eyes and thinks very hard about spring, and suddenly the ice melts, the rest of the flock arrives, and "The warm little duck dove into spring/Quack-Quack Quack." The book has a very simple rhythmic text with words at the end of each short phrase repeated three times. It begs to be read aloud so that children can chime in on repetition. The soft pencil-and-watercolor illustrations in lovely pastels evoke the chill of winter and the warmth of spring, creating a beautiful book for sharing with toddlers. Combined with Denise Fleming's In the Small, Small Pond (Holt, 1993) and perhaps Lydia Dabcovich's Sleepy Bear (Dutton, 1985), this title would make a perfect program on seasonal transitions.
Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.