The Other Ducks

by Ellen Yeomans, Chris Sheban (Illustrator)

Overview

This Duck and That Duck were the best of friends. They did everything together but sometimes two ducks just isn’t enough.

When This Duck declares that he wishes there were Other Ducks around so they could waddle in a line (a very ducky thing to do), That Duck is quite confused.

That is until This Duck and That Duck go swimming, look down, and finally meet The Other Ducks.

Unfortunately, The Other Ducks never seem to come out of the water! Oh how This Duck and That Duck wish The Other Ducks would waddle outside the big puddle with them. But it’s getting colder and their feathers are starting to itch for warmer weather.

Will these best friends ever find their companions?


Join This Duck and That Duck in this witty and heartfelt tale as they discover the world around them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626725027
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Ellen Yeomans is the author of many books for young readers including Jubilee (2004), Remembering a Sister (2000), and a young adult novel Rubber Houses (2007). She is a farmhand for nearby 150-year-old Abbott's Farm, she shears sheep, mixes feed, mucks stalls, and moves around far too many bales of hay and straw. The Other Ducks is her first book for Roaring Brook Press.

Chris Sheban has been awarded three gold and three silver medals by the Society of Illustrators. Some of the books he has illustrated are I Met a Dinosaur by Jan Wahl, Catching the Moon by Myla Goldberg, and What To Do With a Box by Jane Yolen. He also illustrated Someone Like Me by Patricia MacLachlan, also published by Roaring Brook Press.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/19/2018
In this tale from author Yeomans (Jubilee) and illustrator Sheban (I Met a Dinosaur), This Duck and That Duck are best friends trying to figure out the whole duck thing, which is tough without other ducks around to show them the ropes. But This Duck—small and brown compared to the bigger, green-headed That Duck—has the right instincts and moxie. She knows, for instance, that ducks are supposed to waddle in a line and that “Two is not a line. Two is a follow. A line is better. A line is more ducky.” As This Duck nudges her more dubious and dense friend, the two soon get the hang of swimming, flying, and migrating. The following spring, they return to the pond with four adorable offspring, clearly having gotten their ducks in a row in more ways than one (although That Duck still seems a little in the dark). The central conceit—that the two ducks regard their reflections as the eponymous “Other Ducks”—doesn’t add much by way of narrative ballast, but the slightly addlepated patter proves endearing, and the watercolor-and-pencil drawings combine comic exaggeration and intricate, evocative textures to wonderful effect. Ages 3–8. Author’s agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown. (May)

Publishers Weekly

*"A marvelous portrayal of the humor and uncertainty surrounding growth—and the comfort in having a fellow traveler."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

*"The slightly addlepated patter proves endearing, and the watercolor-and-pencil drawings combine comic exaggeration and intricate, evocative textures to wonderful effect."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This charming story explores friendship, curiosity, and nature."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

05/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—This charming story explores friendship, curiosity, and nature. This Duck and That Duck, a pair of Mallards, enjoy each other's company, "playing all spring as the rushes grew high and lush besides the wadey-water of the Little Puddle." This Duck (the little brown female) is strongly intuitive. First, she says "there should be Other Ducks…Like us, only not us." She bounds into the water calling, "I'm swimming!" without knowing exactly what swimming is (describing it as "waddling in water"). Summer passes and she discovers that the birds who are flying to the warmth are indeed the Other Ducks they have been seeking. She "ran, and hopped, and flew", and when her feathers began to itch, she decided that they needed to go "South" and will return with Other Ducks of their own. Sheban's watercolor, graphite and colored pencil illustrations are simple (gourd-shaped ducks with tiny black eyes) yet so evocative, that readers can tell what's going on even without the text. Paired with Yeomans's words, the story is almost cinematic. VERDICT This Duck's evolving sense of "ducky"-ness offers unlimited opportunity for discussion about self-awareness, nature, and friendship. Match with Robert Bruel's Bob and Otto and Sam Swope's Gotta Go! Gotta Go!—Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School, Providence

School Library Journal

★ 2018-03-04
This Duck (a confident female) and That Duck (a trepidatious male) enjoy each other's companionship in the "wadey-water" until discovering a wider world makes the extrovert wish for more friends.This Duck yearns to lead a "more ducky" line when they move about, prompting her to wish for Other Ducks. Yeomans' language is a delightful combination of the childlike and the existential. When questioned about the meaning of "Other Ducks," she replies, "Like us, only not us." Sheban's soft, textured compositions are rendered in watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite; they start out sunny, with warm greens and yellows in the foreground and cool lavender shadows and shapes on the horizon. The lighting and mood change with the seasons and situations. As they explore, This Duck, who is observant but not always accurate, speaks to her mate in ways that will remind adults of an old married couple. Their misunderstandings and postures are humorous, as when they see their reflections and attempt to coax their new liquid companions into line. Nature's pull leads the pair to follow their autumnal instincts—learning to fly and falling into formation with others of their kind. While that experience is exhilarating, it pales in comparison to the feeling next summer when four adorable ducklings bring up the rear.A marvelous portrayal of the humor and uncertainty surrounding growth—and the comfort in having a fellow traveler. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews