Customer Reviews

Hit the Ball Duck

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

 

 

My son has a new obsession-balls. He loves his t-ball set. He nadders "ball, ball, ball, ball..." whenever he spies a baseball game or any other game involving a ball. So, I searched the bookstore for a book about balls that I liked, because I knew I would have to read it over and over again! This book has done the trick for us.

It appeals to all ages. It has the animals and the sound effects (swoosh, crack, bump etc.) that toddlers love. It is comical to my daughters, as the bossy duck is cute in his ideas for retreiving the ball, and ultimately is shut down with a YOU'RE OUT! It also teaches them the value of every team member. It appeals to me, because I get a chuckle out of an A type personality exhibited in a duck and the other group dynamics which we see in play groups everywhere! The little frog is run over in the beginning because of his size, but he plays 2 very important roles later on in the book.

The illustrations aren't prize winning but certainly aren't drab brown and/or black and white. They are simply fine. I consider them cheery.

All in all, I give it 5 stars because my different aged children all love it! I give them choices, and it is one of their "go to" books. So far, I haven't gotten bored reading it to them, so that counts for something too!

P.S. Using different animal sounding voices has really been entertaining as well!

We itentify with the entire idea of this story from riding in the car,carrying the cooler(and using it for unintended purposes!),and playing baseball, for us, at the park. We find the use of humanizing animals humorous and these illustrations are funny! There's a bossy duck, a timid frog and characters in between. Each finds their place and their specific "job". The story is predictable. The text is not. There's a plan-"Sheep, you catch it, Frog can shout, The ball's been caught,so Duck- you're out!' and "Hold still, croaks Frog. I may be small, but I can make your team more tall." and "Look!"cries Duck. We've wobbled the tree...!" The text, we laughed at! It is funny, and the story is funny! We gave this book a big hurrah!

My son received this book as a gift. I did not think it was anything special, and after reading it once I had no desire to read it again. My son wants me to read it once in awhile, I think mostly because it is the only book we have about baseball. We LOVE to read in our house, and I think that love is encouraged by choosing only really great books, that everyone enjoys. If I don't enjoy a particular book, or my kids don't enjoy it, then it's not worth it to me, there are plenty of great books out there to not waste time with mediocre ones. I can't really put my finger on what I don't like about this book, it just wasn't anything special. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either, it was just ok. I would not have spent money on it, if you want to read it I suggest the library.

The chilren in my school loved hearing this story on the audio. Our savy media specialist put something together where we used the audio cd, projected the illutrations and written story on a white board, and also included someone signing the story for a full media experience.

I used the story as a jumping off point for our annual field day. I like to have a literature based physical eucation experience, and this story really fit the bill.

My munchkin LOVES the main character in this book. We started by reading Duck In Truck. Every night it was "Duckntuk Mama!". After I read "Duck In Truck" her only response was "Again! Moor Duckntuk Mama!". Like most parents you can only read a book so many times. We enjoy "Hit The Ball Duck" but it isn't as popular as "Duck In Truck" in our house. I still advise buying this book.

This is another installment in the duck seriers, but it's not as cute as some of the other duck ones. My kids still love it, but I think it lacks just a little something as a parent. Still worth it.

My son loves this book... as do I :) It offers nice illustrations and simple dialogue for the kids to follow. Lots of different animals and good story flow make it a great bedtime story.

And the ending is GREAT... !!