Sitting Duck [Hardcover]

Jackie Urbanovic (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

When Brody's niece Anabel comes for a visit, Max and the gang's only job is to keep her out of trouble. How hard could it be to babysit a puppy anyway? To Max's surprise, this fun-loving pup can't help getting into trouble—especially when set loose in the backyard. Turns out being a “sitting duck” is a lot harder than Max expected!

In this hilarious Max the Duck book, children will delight in the silly mayhem that results when Max tries to be a good babysitter.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1—Max the duck, star of Duck at the Door (2007), Duck Soup (2008), and Duck and Cover (2009, all HarperCollins), is babysitting for an energetic puppy. Anabel's antics are perfectly captured in Urbanovic's chaotically charming cartoons depicting her playing dress up, toilet-papering her Uncle Brody, or playing ball indoors. But when she gets stuck in a tree, it's up to the frazzled duck to find a solution. The story is slight, though comic; it's the bold, funny artwork that really shines here.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

In this amusing picture book from the Max the Duck series, Max agrees to help his canine friend Brody babysit for his niece, a rambunctious puppy named Anabel. Echoing through the text at intervals is the rhetorical question, “How much trouble could a puppy get into, anyway?” Plenty, of course, climaxing with Anabel dangling by her harness from a tree limb. Though this is not the strongest book in the series, young Max fans will enjoy the cartoon-style visual humor, which ramps up the energy as well as the chaos as the story unfolds. Preschool-Grade 2. --Carolyn Phelan

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (January 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006176583X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061765834
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 10.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jackie Urbanovic has written and illustrated two New York Times bestsellers, Duck at the Door and Duck Soup. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, and shares her studio with two playful dogs and one lovable cat, all rescue animals.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars super book, March 1, 2010

By 

mamaC-2-4 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sitting Duck (Hardcover)

We are using this book for a university based reading enrichment program for grades 1-4. Its ideal and allows lot of imagination to flow.

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful pictures, delicious prose, April 21, 2011

By 

Experienced Editor (Illinois, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sitting Duck (Hardcover)

Sitting Duck continues the adventures of the lovable Max, first introduced in "Duck at the Door." Children who are used to being on the receiving end of an evening with a babysitter will be delighted at the idea of being the one in charge. When Max is recruited to watch the rambunctious puppy Anabel for a day, however, the task turns out to be more than he expected. Even with the help of his dog, cat, bird, and rabbit friends, he quickly discovers that the rowdy not-so-little pooch is a disaster in progress! Humor is broad in both the childlike text and the exuberant watercolor art. One of the joys of the Max books is the way unspoken subplots appear in the illustrations. For this adventure, Max has acquired a camera, and although it is never mentioned in the text, readers will spot it clicking from page to page. The resulting photos are arranged scrapbook-style on the book's endpapers to recap the memorable experience.

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible book!, November 1, 2010

By 

S. A. Koch (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sitting Duck (Hardcover)

Thank goodness we got this book from the library, and didn't actually purchase it. It's poorly written, has awkward wording, flow, structure, everything! It's not hard to keep my child entertained, but this book is far from imaginitive or engaging.