From Publishers Weekly
It's a beautiful sunny day, the water glimmers with blues and greens, and a downy little fellow thinks he has better things to do than keep pace with Mama Duck and his three siblings. "No! Quack! Quack! I won't catch up!" says the duckling, and with each request from his mother he finds new ways to tarry. At first, he just "dawdles and dreams" exchanging pleasantries with a friendly fish; but by the fourth admonition, he "dawdles and dreams, preens and plays, splashes and spins, dunks and dips." Spengler's (Clickety Clack) pastels radiate good cheer and possess a wonderful sense of volume and depth. She makes her ducklings' rounded, plump bodies (set off with natty straw hats) seem almost palpable as they glide through the silky water. Although the dawdling duckling's habits briefly place him in mortal danger (from a lurking crocodile), readers expecting a neat moral from Buzzeo's (The Sea Chest) upbeat text will be surprised-he leaps to safety on his mother's back, but there's no promise that he won't be up to his plodding tricks again. Young, incorrigible human dawdlers should find that immensely satisfying. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-Poetic language and lush pastel artwork portray the antics of an endearing youngster who would rather daydream, play, and explore than tow the line like his siblings. As Mama Duck swims along with her three ducklings close behind, she continually urges her fourth child to catch up, but he is too busy having fun. Only when danger looms in the form of a predator does Dawdle Duckling pay attention to his mother's words. Heeding her warning, he makes a dramatic leap into the air and lands safely on her back. Buzzeo mixes a comfortingly repetitive text with fresh and evocative imagery. Her vivid language brings the landscape to life, as the birds move "Up the cove/toward the big rock rising" or "Along the shore/to the green grass sprouting." Each time the youngster refuses to obey his mother, a new phrase describing his actions is added, culminating in a duck who "dawdles and dreams,/preens and plays,/splashes and spins,/dunks and dips," and finally "looks- and leaps!" With their soft edges and brilliant colors, Spengler's paintings have a dreamy quality that matches the text's even tempo. Scenes of Mama Duck with her three matching offspring in a neat row contrast with close-ups of Dawdle Duckling zigzagging through lily pads, swimming on his back, and enjoying an underwater encounter with a turtle. Pair this picture book with George Shannon's Tippy-Toe Chick, Go! (Greenwillow, 2003), a tale of another free-spirited bird who likes to stop and smell the roses.
Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library JournalCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
