Duck, Duck, Goose!: A Coyote's on the Loose!

When I first read this to my daughter, I thought it was one of the most annoying and pointless kids books ever. However, she really enjoyed it when she was between 3-4, and even wants to read it now sometimes (she's now 5). My two year-old son insists that this story be read every night. Who am I to complain? It's better than watching Thomas...

My two kids (ages 2 and 1) absolutley love this book. They love it so much that it literally got me through a 2 hour flight with no tears or fussing. We just kept reading it over and over and over. It's the first book my son wants to read in the morning.

My daughter never seems to tire of this one and I'm trying to pinpoint exactly why. I think the main reason my daughter enjoys this book is because the rhymes are not only catchy, but they also really help move the little plot along. It goes from from "Duck, duck, goose, a coyote's on the loose!" to "Goose, goose, pig, and he's really, really big!" to "Pig, pig, pup, he's going to eat us up!" etc, etc. Each page these new animals are added to the group who are running away from the "coyote." In the end turns out that the "coyote" is only a friendly bunny covered in leaves who is running after them because he wants to play. There is just the right amount suspense and silliness, created by the chase and crazy stuff the animals do to try to escape, for a toddler/young preschooler to enjoy. And because the rhymes lead from one to the next, my daughter memorized the entire text very quickly (not just the ending words that rhyme). I have to give this author lots of credit for writing a nicely-paced story for very young children. And the illustrator did a nice job of giving the appropriate clues on each page to help a child follow the rhymes and learn the story. This was a hurried, random pull off the library shelf but I was very pleased with the result!

Oh NO! There is a wild animal loose on the farm! The animals think it might be a coyote but they can't tell because it's covered in leaves! What ever it is they all try and run away from it. In the end the animal catches up with the gang and she's really only a playful rabbit looking for a friend! The books illustrations were neat. I read this to my 1 ½ year old sister and they kept her attention well. I would recommend this book to be read aloud to preschoolers and younger. They will enjoy the surprise ending!