Uglified Ducky

Claflin, W. (2010).  The Uglified Ducky.  James Stimson, (ill.). Atlanta: August House.
 

Award: Bluebonnet 2011

Exposition: Baby moose wanders away and falls asleep in a duck nest amongst 5 duck eggs. Mother Ducky finds him and decides he is one of her eggs that has hatched.

Conflict: Baby moose just can’t fit in as a duck even though he tries. He knows he is just an uglified ducky.

Rising Action: Baby moose tries to quack, swim, and fly like a duck without any success.

Climax:When baby moose can’t fly like a duck, he decides to go away.

Falling Action: Baby moose wanders into a glen where big beasties are drinking out of the pond.

Resolution: Baby moose is told by one of the beasties that is a moose.

Illustrations: Terrific illustrations using bold colors and full page with text overlay. Even though the story is engaging, the illustrations are just as engaging showing emotion on the character’s faces. Being full page illustrations they are able to utilize the space to show other aspects of the characters within their surroundings. Beginning readers would be able to decipher the plot by looking at the pictures.

A Tree is Nice

May, J.   (1956, 1984). A Tree is Nice. Marc Simont, (ill.). NewYork: Harper & Row.
 

Award: Caldecott Medal 1957

 

This picture book talks about how a tree is nice and all the things that one can do with having a tree. Simplistic language engages young children in what a tree is good for—climbing, shade, pretending, and pride in having grown one, are discussed within the text.

The illustrations are color and black and white sketches, which actually holds your attention as they go back and forth between the two. The black and white sketches have a lot of detail showing not only the aspect about a tree mentioned within the text, but also the surrounding area.

Mirror, Mirror

Singer, M. (2010).  Mirror, Mirror. Josee Masse, (ill.). New York: Penguin.
 

Award: Notable Book

This unique poetry book uses fairy tales as a base. On one side of the page is a short poem telling a short overview of a fairy tale, then on the other side of the same page is that same poem but written in reverse, giving a new viewpoint of the poem and the fairy tale. On the opposite page is an illustration that is also in reverse as well. The illustrations are in full color and detailed to tell a story on their own. The poems are short and easy to read, while also giving insight to the fairy tale at the same time. At the end of the book the author invites the reader to try writing some reverse poems on their own.