Jez Alborough is a master at not only writing, but also illustrating children's books. His clever but simple rhymes enthral children and his funny drawings keep them laughing as the story is told.
He has published over 30 books to date with both Walker Books and Harper Collins, who delight us with this popular Duck series. His books are published in not only hardback form like this one, but in paperback and boardbooks too. This gives a good range for different age groups.
***The Story***
The little rhyme on the inside of the book goes like this,
"Duck and friends go out one day with a bat, a ball and a glove to play. Duck hits the ball but where does it fall? On a branch in the tree - now they can't play at all. Frog has an idea, Duck lends a hand but nothing turns out quite as planned.
The story starts as we see Duck and friends driving their way to the park and when they arrive Duck can't wait to start playing bat and ball. It is decided that Goat will throw the ball and Sheep can catch, as Frog is a bit small to do anything else but be an umpire.
Eventually the ball is thrown and with a SWOOSH, C-R-A-C-K and a WHOOSH it gets sent soaring high in the sky and lands in a nearby tree. The friends are a bit fed up and think about climbing the tree but it is a bit prickly so Duck decides to throw up the bat to knock the ball down. With a SWISH the bat goes up and ……… gets stuck too.
Duck isn't put off though despite his friends' sighs of despair and tries to knock both of them down with the glove. With a WHIZZ through the air the gloves gets just as stuck as the bat and ball.
Now that there isn't anything left to throw up Frog comes up with a cunning plan. He thinks that if Goat stands on a nearby log, then Sheep climbs up on Goat and finally Duck gets on Sheep, that they may just reach the unreachable items. Unfortunately they still can't quite reach so Frog climbs up them all and tries to get them. Then suddenly there is a wobble and a huge BUMP! The friends collapse on the ground.
The good news though is that when they fall the tree gets wobbled too and the bat, glove and finally the ball drop from up above.
The story ends with Duck saying
At last we can play, thank goodness for that. Come on - it's still my turn to bat. Not so fast! They hear Frog shout… You've been caught so - DUCK YOU'RE OUT!
The last picture shows Frog catching the ball as it falls from the tree and duck looking on in despair.
***The Illustrations***
The drawings like all the other duck books are amusing as well as being bright and colourful. It's the expressions on the characters' faces that stand out for me and the look of excitement or shock matches the story extremely well.
Jez Alborough really has a knack of matching the pictures to the text in a way that a child can follow the story without actually reading the story.
***My Thoughts***
If you've read my Duck's Day Out review, you'll know that we're big fans of Jez Alborough books and this one is no exception. I'm not sure if it's the clever rhyming, the funny pictures or the simple storylines that make them work - maybe it's just the finished combination of it all that makes us all want to read his work.
This book for me, not only tells a funny story of friends on a day out playing a fun game, but it tells of teamwork and how things get sorted easier and quicker when they all work together. Duck is a bit of a gung-ho type and it's up to the smallest member of the group to get a bit of structure going. I feel that this is an important lesson for children to learn as well as being a good story. It may also encourage a smaller child to put forth his ideas just as Frog did.
The pictures in this book are a joy to look at with my son and I love the way that there are 2 or 3 different scenes on many of the pages to illustrate action shots such as Duck throwing the bat at the tree or to show duck running to climb up to the top of the pile of friends.
My son loves the duck books and always joins in when I'm reading it to him, adding the last few words of every line that he is so good at memorizing. He always shouts out the sounds with great gusto and laughs at the pictures. It really is a delight to watch him with this book.
If you're already a fan of the Duck series then I'm sure you'll like this one and if you or your child haven't been introduced to them yet, then what are you waiting for.
***Other Books In The Duck Series***
Duck In The Truck Fix-It Duck Duck's Key - Where Can It Be? Duck To The Rescue Captain Duck Duck's Day Out
***Other Info***
This hardback version that measures in at approx. 10" x 8" has a price on the cover of £10.99 but you can get it from Amazon for the bargain price of £7.25. It is also available in paperback form for £3.99 from there too.
Hardback ISBN No. 0007130120 Paperback ISBN No. 0007130139
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