Duck, Duck, Goose [Hardcover]

Tad Hills (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Duck & Goose

Duck & Goose, Goose & Duck. Feathered friends forever . . . or are they? That's what we discover in this charming and hilarious follow-up to the bestselling Duck & Goose. You see, there's a challenge to their friendship: a little whippersnapper of a duck named Thistle. Thistle's good at everything (or so she thinks), from math to holding her breath to standing on her head. Duck thinks she's fantastic. But Goose does not! And so Goose is faced with a problem close to the hearts of children everywhere: what happens when your best friend makes a new friend?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2—Three's a crowd in this follow-up to Duck & Goose (Random, 2006). Duck is smitten with his new friend, Thistle, who claims to be the fastest, smartest, strongest duck around. Goose is not as enthusiastic about the newcomer. At first he gamely tries to participate in her incessant contests, but eventually he wanders off sadly to look for butterflies by himself. A worried Duck follows him, and the reunited companions agree that they prefer their usual quiet activities to Thistle's manic pursuits. Accordingly, they trick her into winning a napping contest and then gratefully sneak off to play by themselves. While the story provides an interesting and lighthearted exploration of the issue of loyalty between friends, the resolution seems problematic. What will happen when Thistle wakes up? Will the three of them work out a way to play together? Will Thistle be excluded, or will Duck be pressured into participating in her games again? Perhaps these questions could open a class (or family) discussion about relationships. In any case, Hills's gauzy oil paintings of a hazy, sunlit landscape and endearing animals make this a book worth lingering over with a good pal.—Rachael Vilmar, Atlanta Fulton Public Library, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In Duck & Goose (2005), the characters became friends after tussling over a soccer ball. Here, their friendship is tested with another duck. Goose likes to meander through the meadow, but Duck's new friend, Thistle, has a competitive edge; she shows off her math skills, challenges Goose to a breath-holding contest, and proves she can stand on her head longer than anyone else. Duck is delighted, but Goose is worn out. The narrative doesn't really explain why Duck, after exhibiting such pleasure in Thistle, turns on her (though given the rather long text, Thistle's pushy enthusiasm may tire the audience, as well). Nevertheless, Duck finally seeks out Goose, and together they allow Thistle to win a new contest: she falls asleep first, and they go to play. The intrusive friend is a children's book staple, but here it plays out with cute rubber ducky-like characters, who exemplify what real kids feel. Sunny colors add to the appeal. Pair with Diane de Groat's Last One in Is a Rotten Egg (2007), about a competitive cousin. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Schwartz & Wade (February 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375840680
• ISBN-13: 978-0375840685
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 0.4 x 10.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Ducks & Other Waterfowl

More About the Author

Tad Hills is the author and illustrator of many books including the New York Times Bestselling Duck and Goose, Duck, Duck, Goose and How Rocket Learned to Read. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, two kids and dog Rocket who has not learned to read...yet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Goose Girl, February 25, 2007

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Duck, Duck, Goose (Hardcover)

Ducks and geese are not immediately adorable creatures. Anyone who has ever been bitten by a duck or chased by a hissing goose will agree with me here. Yet due to that law of nature that states that any and all creatures must start out cute in order to survive (the sole exception being pandas), baby ducks and baby geese are nothing short of adorableness incarnate. With his first book "Duck and Goose", author/illustrator Tad Wade went from fabulous Halloween costumer designer and husband of half of Schwartz & Wade to a star in his own right. His book was the kind of cute that everyone can agree on. There is good cute in this world and there is bad cute (ala Disney Cuties) and Mr. Hills has successfully placed his creations in the former category. His first Duck & Goose book was a well-deserved hit and now a sequel is here to follow-up the tale. If a ball was the mysterious visitor in the first book, imagine what a mysterious talking visitor could do.

Goose doesn't know it, but there's a new duck in the pasture and it goes by the name of Thistle. One day, as Goose attempts to maintain the butterfly that has landed on his head, his act of concentration is disrupted by the untimely arrival of Duck and his new friend Thistle. Thistle is a small highly-competitive duckling, and she's extraordinarily eager to show off her prowess in everything from adding to balancing sticks to hopping on one foot. Goose competes against this little challenger for a while, but he just can't seem to best her in anything. As such, he goes off to do his own thing, leaving the two ducks together. Duck, however, finds that though Thistle is admirable, she's also a bit tiring. He locates Goose once more and when their over-achieving (not to say egotistical) neighbor arrives, they have a contest to see who can fall asleep the fastest for the longest. Thistle complies and the two remaining friends go off to play with their ball, happy in the knowledge that this is one game where no one has to come off as "the best".

This will sound like an odd compliment, but I'm going to mean every word of it. Children's books fall all too easily into the well-worn grooves of their predecessors. You have your Amelia Bedelia knock-offs, your Where the Wild Things Are knock-offs, your Eloise knock-offs, etc. The Frog and Toad knock-offs are what I'm thinking of in this particular case. Lots of books feature two friends where one is perpetually grumpy and the other perpetually sunny. One worries and the other flits about. I can think of five different books off the top of my head that fit this formula, and without having read this book you might think that the Duck and Goose qualify for this stereotype. What makes Mr. Hills work so remarkable, however, is that he's managed to put a great deal of characterization into Duck, Goose, and Thistle without complicating his narrative or making it overly familiar. Goose would seemingly be a perfect candidate for grouchiness, but there's a subtlety to his low-key enthusiasm. Goose is not pleased with the appearance of Thistle, but he has the wherewithal to keep such thoughts to himself. When Thistle grows too intolerable a personality to hang out with any longer, Goose simply leaves and does his own thing. He may be jealous of Duck's admiration of this new friend, but he doesn't dwell on it. Kids will undoubtedly feel Goose's jealousy for him, but because he doesn't make a federal case out of it, Duck soon sees how Thistle is just a bit "much" and is quick to join his old friend once more. And though this isn't a moralizing book, "Duck, Duck, Goose" teaches kids a very subtle lesson. Think your best friend's new pal is annoying? Give your buddy some space and that fact will soon be apparent to them as well. I also enjoyed the fact that right from the start it becomes clear that all of Thistle's posturing is probably overcompensation for her diminutive size. Her scream of "I'm not little" at the story's beginning is an excellent example of how a picture book author can give characters full three-dimensional personalities with a minimum of wordplay.

The art of Tad Hills is just a joy as well. As with its predecessor, "Duck, Duck, Goose begins with dreamy endpapers that begin and end our tale from a distance. Here is the meadow, the lily pond, and the shady thicket where everything takes place. Here, at the start, is Goose standing stock still with a butterfly perched on his head. And in the distance you can see Duck and Thistle talking, just before they rush in and disrupt Goose's complacency. Duck and Goose are their regular cute selves, but Thistle is an interesting addition. She is smaller than the other resident fowls and tries to make up for it by moving posing, and dancing about as much as she possibly can. The cover is a beautiful example of the façade she puts on. And can I say, by the way, that I loved that the ending of this book wasn't one where Thistle stops showing off and befriends Goose? That would have been SO easy for the author to do, and at the same time it would have been dull as dishwater to read. Instead, the two friends leave Thistle asleep under a bush and go play by themselves. That way, kids who grow to really dislike Thistle will cheer on her being left behind and kids who adore Thistle will see her nap as a way of winning a contest yet again. Ah, but back to the art. Bright clear colors, great expressions, and visual gags like a near-unconscious Goose conked out after losing a hold-your-breath contest make this book just a sheer pleasure to page through.

Some kids will undoubtedly bemoan the all-too-brief appearance of Bluebird in this book. After having established herself as the voice of reason in the first tale, it would have been nice to give her a little more page time here. Mr. Hills, however, is undoubtedly well-aware of this and I'm sure that once this book becomes the hit it is bound to be, he'll give the Bluebird her moment to shine in the sun. Until then, no one's going to complain at all about having more fun with Duck and Goose. It has all the elements of a classic picture book and, I dare say, is better than the first in the series. A must-have purchase if I ever saw one.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book, July 7, 2007

By 

S Gilbert (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duck, Duck, Goose (Hardcover)

My 2 year old daughter received this book recently for her birthday and it is great. Tad Hills' ability to mix sarcasm and wit into a children's story is impressive. Of the 50 or so books she has, I put this in the top 5 that *I* enjoy reading. There aren't too many of those, especially when they get read several times a week.

I'm now looking to buy DUCK AND GOOSE.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Teaching dishonesty?, October 14, 2011

By 

J. Rousseau - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Duck, Duck, Goose (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of this series, but this book cannot remain in our house. It IS a sweet stories showing the dynamics of adding a new (exhausting) friend to the mix. However, it is completely ruined for me by the author's "solution" for getting a break from the exaughsted, likely younger new friend. They lie. They lad thistle to believe that they are all going to take a nap. Thistle falls asleep, but they don't even rtry. They sneak off to play behind her back. Kids are going to learn those little lies and trickery on their own. They don't need a book to show it as the preferable answer.
Very disappointed