From Publishers Weekly
This picture book debut from Belgium is a curious combination of visual pop and narrative pap. Opening with rough-textured black and white woodcuts, Verroken establishes beyond a doubt that her duck heroine is suffering an Edvard Munch-sized case of the blues ("Dark clouds hang over her head. Everything looks black-even the flowers. Duck is grump... and sad"). Duck even believes that rain means the sky is crying. But after a frog pipes in with a bit of encouragement ("No pluck, Duck?... Cheer up. Look ahead!"), gradually Duck bucks up, realizing that there are always glimmers of hope and light. "Come back, Sun!" she cheers on the heavens. "It's time to warm the flowers and dry up all our tears." By book's end, the woodcuts are blazing with cheery colors, and even Duck is her "wonderfully yellow self." Children may well be entranced by bold graphic elements and the reassuring transformation that occurs over the pages. But it's hard to believe that the uninspiring text will similarly hold their attention. Ages 3-6.
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From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3—Even on a melancholy day, children can discover wonderful surprises that will turn their world around. Verroken skillfully communicates this simple message in an engaging tale. Her story begins with doleful Duck and her red toy, Cuddly, in tow, wandering through a colorless pond. Under dark clouds, big raindrops fall, and she becomes even sadder. Then she meets up with a tiny green frog who inspires her with a simple suggestion: "No pluck, Duck? Cheer up. Look ahead!" Frog's good spirits inspire Duck to reconsider her bleak mood. With a new sense of awareness, she discovers a tiny bit of color in her world, and her surroundings brighten. Colorless Duck begins to turn yellow-green. She shouts to Cuddly, "We have to move on!" and they do. Duck orders the clouds to go away and the sun begins to shine. Verroken's black-and-white spreads fade away and become vivid and colorful. Duck celebrates a new, joyful outlook when she notices her reflection in the sparkling pond and is graced by another lovely surprise: a beautiful butterfly that lands on her beak. The spare text underscores the bold images that are created by carved woodblocks and digitally enhanced, providing charming, folk-art-like illustrations. Outstanding.—
Anne Beier, Hendrick Hudson Free Library, Montrose, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
