Little Quack's New Friend

"Little Quack's New Friend" is the first book I'm featuring in my new series of reviews, Agent0042 Goes Ducky, in which I review cute picture books featuring talking duck characters. "Little Quack's New Friend" is by Lauren Thompson, who has also written a series of books featuring a mouse's holiday experiences. It's illustrated by Derek Anderson. In this book, Little Quack and his friends are out playing, when they meet a new friend. Well, they don't all quite consider him a friend at first because he's, well, different. He's a frog, and only Little Quack wants to play with him at first. But is being different really such a bad thing? This story features a fairly common theme you'll find in children's books, so in order for it to be interesting, it has to be done well. And it definitely is here. The story is fun, funny at times, and even teaches some basic counting. But the best are the vibrant, full-page illustrations, which teem with life and have brilliant, bold coloring. A winner of a book, sure to delight any child (or any fan of cute ducks.)

The cover of this book (I am reviewing the hardback), is enough to catch your eye and it will certainly catch the eye of your child. I recently had the pleasure of reading this one to a group of pre-school kids, and not one child was unhappy with the choice of book. I even got requests for seconded readings! That is a nice endorsement for any childrens book. This work is actually a bit of a mini-lesson in accepting those that may be a bit different..i.e. it is okay if the other kid is green rather than yellow, it is good to have diverse friends. The bold, simple art work in this one is an absolute delight to the eye. The text is simple and repetative and the characters are just simply cute. The little duckling and little frog are pretty typical you children and our little human children can certainly identify with them. Actually, there is not very much not to like about this book. Highly recommend.

My 2 year old has fallen in love with Little Quack. Ever since reading "Little Quacks Bedtime" she's been obsessed. Since I'm a push-over, I've purchased every book in the Little Quack series and while she LOVES them all, this one is her favorite. We've read it everyday for about a month now. I think it's all the fun sounds she gets to make as she reads along with me. I would recommend this book highly!!!

Such a cute book. Little Quack reminds me of my little one. Beautiful Illustrations

Little Quack's New Friend by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Derek Anderson is a completely delightful children's book. The bright cover got me to bring it home from the library and the clever story entranced my 3 year old daughter. Little Quack and his siblings: Widdle, Waddle, Piddle, and Puddle meet a new friend Little Ribbit, and they play together. The illustrations are amazingly charming, the words just repetitive enough for my daughter to enjoy what's coming next without me wanting to tear out my hair, and even my twelve year old daughter sat through a reading. My husband declared it adorable. It has a sweet, easy message of getting along despite our differences which is perfect for this age group. I've ordered other books in the series from the library, and if they are as good as this one, they will probably become Christmas presents.