I Am a Little Duck

While cleaning today, I ran across this gem and took time to reread it. Warm memories of reading this book to my son washed over me. This was his all time favorite book from age one until he was reading Dr. Seuss to me. The artwork is lovely and matches the sweet and gentle tone of the text. The story is a simple one, yet so meaningful to a child who can relate to the little duck protagonist. Near the end of the book, the duckling tries to capture "the balloon in the water" which is really a reflection he sees of the moon. Crozat paints and describes the event so perfectly. I remember that it always made my son smile. The book is on hardboard, which held up to literally years of reading and mangling by a toddler boy. It does have a little tape on it, but is in good shape considering what it went through. I believe this book is a children's classic... I hope to read it again to a warm cuddly grandchild on my lap someday. I am also sharing my thoughts here in the hopes of inspiring others to bring this wonderful book home to their children or grandchildren.

I read these books 30-odd years ago when I was a toddler, and they stuck in my memory. My 6-month old son loves the little bear, and tries to touch everything in the pictures. It doesn't help put him in the mood to sleep, but he does love to see me get it down.

Illustrations are wonderful! These series of books are a wonderful way to introduce children to to animals in the context of their habitat and ecosystem.