Peep and Ducky

by David Martin, David M. Walker (Illustrator)

Overview

Lucky, lucky, lucky! Follow two adorable friends at play in a read-aloud for the very young that trips off the tongue.

Ready, set, go! Whether you’re playing pretend games (beep, beep) or flying off the slide (ka-thump), flopping into a puddle (splish, splash) or running around a tree (“Can’t catch me!”), an afternoon at the park is so much better when your best buddy is there. Peep and Ducky share giggles and tickles and bumps in this sweet excursion from David Martin and David Walker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763650391
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/12/2013
Series:	Peep and Ducky
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

David Martin has written many books for children, including Let’s Have a Tree Party!, illustrated by John Manders; All for Pie, Pie for All and Little Bunny and the Magic Christmas Tree, both illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev; and We’ve All Got Bellybuttons!, illustrated by Randy Cecil. David Martin lives in Vermont.

David Walker has illustrated several children’s books, including Flip, Flap, Fly! by Phyllis Root and Bears on Chairs and Bears in Beds, both by Shirley Parenteau. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

Martin (Let's Have a Tree Party!) covers the highs and lows of a play date in the park with this story of two young friends-a tiny yellow duckling and an even tinier blue bird. The rhymed verse has a playfulness that echoes the birds' light rambunctiousness: " 'Play cars,' says Peep./ 'Beep, beep,' says Ducky./ 'I'm a jeep,' says Peep./ 'I'm a trucky,' says Ducky." Walker (Bears in Beds) gives the friends lumpy bodies and expressive dot eyes; loose black outlines help both the birds and certain key props (a slide, a picnic table) stand out against the soft, painterly backgrounds. There are some bumps (both literal and figurative) along the way, but nothing that some simple, earnest apologies can't fix. It's a quiet but well-observed portrait of a budding friendship-including that all-too-familiar moment of truth when "Momma says, 'Time...'/ And Poppa says, 'To go go!'/ But Ducky and Peep cry,/ 'No, no, no!' " Parents ought to find it a useful model of what a successful outing among friends looks like. Ages 1-4.
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Publishers Weekly

The couplets make for easy reading, their sing-song quality lending them to large crowds or one-on-one interactions with equal ease. Likewise, the buoyant mixed-media art neatly complements the up-tempo tone. Cute without being cloying, these pudgy feathered stand-ins for child readers are bound to entice small listeners to clamor “Again” when the story’s done.
—Kirkus Reviews

This picture book, starring big yellow Ducky and small blue Peep, is tailor-made for toddlers...The text is bouncy and the mixed-media art, rendered in a cheerful palette, is muted in the background, while the foreground pops with heavily outlined characters.
—Booklist

In the mixed-media illustrations, the two characters are consistent in size and color, and backgrounds show a pleasant park setting.
—School Library Journal

The rhymed verse has a playfulness that echoes the birds' light rambunctiousness...It's a quiet but well-observed portrait of a budding friendship.
—Publishers Weekly

[T]he rhyming text is great fun to read aloud—a bonus for adults, who will be asked to read this multiple times, and who won’t mind experiencing this idyllic play date again and again.
—The Horn Book

From the Publisher

PreS—Peep, a small blue bird, and Ducky, a small yellow duck, meet in the park and spend the day playing together. "Ducky runs to Peep./Peep runs to Ducky./Such good friends./Lucky, lucky, lucky." They zoom down the slide, chase each other in a game of tag, and play in a mud puddle. At lunch, there's a spilled-juice episode, followed by potty time. At the sandbox, Ducky's father and Peep's mother announce it's time to go home. The youngsters are reluctant to separate but are soon waving at each other on their way home. In the mixed-media illustrations, the two characters are consistent in size and color, and backgrounds show a pleasant park setting. Additional.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI

School Library Journal

A new easy-to-read friendship tale is sure to resonate with "lucky, lucky, lucky" preschoolers everywhere. When Peep goes to the playground with his mommy and runs into Ducky and his daddy, the result is definitely lucky. In gentle rhyming verse, the two encounter the usual highs and lows of playground adventures. A trip down the slide might end in a sore bummy, but a little tickle makes everything better. Likewise a small tiff over a bucket might break it in two, but good friends always know how to make up with each other. After a long bout of play, it's time to go home, but the two don't whine, promising instead to play together another time. The couplets make for easy reading, their sing-song quality lending them to large crowds or one-on-one interactions with equal ease. Likewise, the buoyant mixed-media art neatly complements the up-tempo tone. Cute without being cloying, these pudgy feathered stand-ins for child readers are bound to entice small listeners to clamor "Again" when the story's done. As soft and refreshing as a cool glass of lemonade, and twice as sweet. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews