Customer Reviews

Dawdle Duckling

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The story has a rythm of Mamma calling the duckling "Quack, Catch up!" and the duckling responds "No! I won't catch up!". Five or six times this happens! SERIOUSLY!??? Is this the behavior you want your children to emulate????? I knew I didn't like it, but when I heard my 4 year old respond "No! I won't ___" to what I had just asked her to do, that was the tipping point and this book went in the recycling bin--not even donated, so as not to add to the generation of children already disrespectful to their parents/teachers. Perhaps if there had been some negative cosequence--such as the duckling had actually appeared FRIGHTENED when the alligator appeared--the story would have redeeming value. As it is, I highly recommend NOT purchasing this book--or even checking it out from a library.

The first time we heard this book, Toni Buzzeo actually read it. My daughter was only 6 months old and when Toni started to read it my daughter put all her attention to her and loved every minute of it. I got this book as soon as I could. She still loves it to this day!

Am I the only mom who always seemed to be saying, "Hurry up"? At one point, my oldest son said solemnly, "But I don't LIKE to hurry." Somehow it was a revelation. Oh. He doesn't LIKE to hurry. Anyone who has dealt with a dawdler will find this book hysterically funny...and great fun to share with kids. Toni Buzzeo has put her finger perfectly on the situation--and her dawdle duckling is a real charmer who doesn't get whapped with some punishment at the end but realizes for himself that there is a time to dawdle and a time to get zippy! Fabulous toddler book.

Toni Buzzeo shows extraordinary versatility in moving from her exquisitely lyrical picture-book debut, THE SEA CHEST (Fall '02), to this adorable story of a duckling who dawdles behind Mama and siblings. "NO! Quack! Quack!" says Dawdle Duckling, when Mama asks him to catch up. "I won't catch up." Children will love chiming in on Dawdle's refrain, and adults and children alike will be enchanted by the patterns in and music of Buzzeo's language. The illustrations wonderfully capture the playful fun of the text--a treat for the ear, and the eye, and the funnybone!

The good little ducklings stay with their momma, but Dawdle Duckling just wants to play and so he does not listen to his momma. But, there are dangers out there, and that shows Dawdle Ducking that it is time to get close to his momma!

This is a cute book - brightly colored, with a fun set of illustrations. I liked the story, and my three-year-old liked saying the repeated lines along with me. We enjoyed this book and recommend it to you and your little reader!

Any mother who's ever waited, car keys in hand, for a kid to tie his shoes, get his book bag, finish his milk, etc., will identify with this Mama Duck, who in her oh-so-kindly way encourages her little dawdle duckling to get a move on. Kids on the other hand will understand that Dawdle is not stalling but exploring, daydreaming, thinking -- and they'll be the first to urge him on when trouble rears its crocodilian head. (Or is that a gator?) The art is so vivid you almost expect these darling ducks to swim off the page and shake their downy fannies at the reader. A beauty of a book.

"That's like me," my four year old said after our first reading of Dawdle Duckling. She totally related to day dreamer, Dawdle; she loves to do things her own way and her path is always filled with 'zigzags' and diversions that leave me trying to hurry her along. And like Dawdle, she knows that her mother is always waiting with open arms when trouble appears. After three readings she had the catchy refrain down and was 'reading' the book to herself. She loves the illustrations and picked right up on Dawdle's bent hat that sets him apart from his siblings. My daughter has proudly placed Toni Buzzeo's newest title in her special 'favorites' section of her bookshelf, and we are eager for more from Ms. Buzzeo.