Fluffy and Baron [Hardcover]

Laura Rankin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2006 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

"One summer day, someone new waddled into Baron’s life. Her name was Fluffy." So begins the adorable tale of a dog, a duck, and a perfect companionship. Perfect, that is, until Fluffy joins up with the wild ducks from the pond. Baron is suddenly alone—no one to play with, eat with, or cuddle up with at night. But when those wild ducks fly away, Baron’s in for a surprise—and more friends than he ever expected!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–One summer day, someone new waddled into Baron's life. Her name was Fluffy. And so begins this sweet story about the friendship between a German shepherd and a duckling. Baron comes to love her and is bereft when spring comes and she joins the wild ducks on the pond. After they leave and Fluffy's ducklings hatch, Baron is delighted to share with them all. Children will be captivated by the lush illustrations. The animals, realistically rendered in acrylic and ink, look ready to jump off the page, and the expressions on Baron's face, which range from curious to unsure to sad to delighted, are priceless. The book is beautifully designed, with the mix of full-bleed spreads, spot art, and full-page illustrations adding interest and moving the story along nicely. The lifelike farm and country backdrops and use of motion add to the visual appeal of the book. While there is nothing new here, and the text is unexceptional and occasionally saccharine, libraries looking for more books on friendship and sharing will find a ready audience for this attractive offering. Accessible to beginning readers, it will also be popular in storyhours.–Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The author of Handmade Alphabet (1991) and Swan Harbor (2003) turns her attention to personal childhood pets: Fluffy, a domesticated Pekin duck; and Baron, a long-haired German shepherd. Fluffy and Baron have an idyllic friendship. They share food and sleeping quarters, play together, and stay close during the cold winter months. When spring arrives, Fluffy is drawn to a pond where some wild ducks have come to rest. Baron is saddened by the loss of his companion, but he faithfully stays nearby while Fluffy builds a nest and hatches nine ducklings. Her motherly duties complete, Fluffy and her brood return to the barn, where Baron loyally waits. Rankin's realistic acrylics-and-ink illustrations, rich in earth tones, are particularly successful in depicting Baron's emotions and background details. An appended note includes information about duck behavior and two photos of Rankin and her pets. A natural choice for story hours focusing on friendship as well as for lap sharing. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dial (June 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803729537
• ISBN-13: 978-0803729537
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #420,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An odd combination of family pets that were best friends., January 27, 2007

By 

Marci Twain (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fluffy and Baron (Hardcover)

A lovely story. It was a joy to read and to look at the pictures. The text was great, as were the illustrations. There were 26 scenes and many of them were less than a page, but some were 2 pages wide.

The story was about a dog and a domesticated duck that got along well together. For a bit of the story the duck had wild duck "guests" and the dog was left alone during that time. But by the end of the story the guests have left and the dog has more than one duck as a friend.

My favorite part of the book was the Author's Note at the end where she explains a little about the history behind the story and its star characters. I'm sure this book will be very popular with young children and they will enjoy having it read to them time and time again. 5 stars!

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning To Welcome New Friends & Share, March 18, 2010

By 

Lindsay N. Bowker "We Are The Angels We Have ... (Stonington, Maine) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fluffy and Baron (Hardcover)

This charming story is about welcoming new friends we might be shy or even reluctant about at first and learning to share..Baron is at first not at all happy about the baby duckling, Fluffy, who cheerfully attaches to him..getting in to all his stuff..including swimming in his water bowl but in no time they are best buddies sharing and enjoying everything together. After a brief separation when Fluffy lays, tends and hatches nine eggs, the happy pair are reunited with their expanded "family" of the nine little one's. Lovely illustrations and wonderful expressions on Baron's face.

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet, simple story that can trigger good conversations, November 25, 2009

By 

Mimi37 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fluffy and Baron (Hardcover)

My three-year-old and I love this book. The story is simple and sweet, but it allows jumping off points for discussion of friendship issues, if you want to go there (Fluffy the duck leaves Baron alone for a while to hang out with other friends; Baron seems lonely; Fluffy comes back but is distracted with her new project; that turns out to be okay, because her project produces ducklings = more friends!) The illustrations are realistic and very pretty. We both love the page at the very end that says it's based on a true story (as a child, the author had a duck named Fluffy and a dog named Baron -- shown in black-and-white photos) -- that part has led us to have conversations about authors, writing books, telling stories, etc.