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Summary
Summary
The creator of Gator presents an enchanting follow-up about a carousel animal who longs to fly -- and a love that is bigger than the skies.
Duck is a carousel animal who longs to fly. She spends her days watching real, flying ducks, and her nights dreaming of soaring among them. Flying is all she can think about ... until a little lost duckling wanders into her life. Soon they are inseparable. But when Duckling's yellow down is replaced by long white feathers, Duck is determined to do whatever she can to help him fly -- even if it means being left behind.
Author Notes
Randy Cecil is the author-illustrator of Gator and has illustrated numerous books for children, including We've All Got Bellybuttons by David Martin, My Father the Dog by Elizabeth Bluemle and One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre. Randy lives in Texas, USA.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Duck is a carved carousel animal whose wooden wings are not meant for flying. After the park closes for the night, she steps down from her post and roams around. One spring day, a lost duckling finds her, and they begin to spend all their time together. As Duckling grows, Duck teaches him what he needs to know, but she cannot teach him to fly-though she tries. She uses her scarf to secure him on her back and sets out to find real ducks. Duckling's small wings carry them both into the sky, but Duck's weight is too much for him. She lets go of the scarf, hitting the ground with a thud, and he flies away. The winter is long and lonely for her, but in the spring Duckling returns, still wearing the scarf. Before he rejoins his flock, he helps Duck climb onto his back and shows her how it feels to fly. Cecil's illustrations, as in the companion book, Gator (Candlewick, 2007), are done in oils. Duck, with her bright, striped scarf, stands out against soft green and gold hues. Many of the paintings are in circles of various sizes on a white background with a gold frame. What could have been a sentimental tale becomes instead a beautifully realized friendship story with a happy ending. Like Opus in Berkeley Breathed's A Wish for Wings That Work (Little, Brown, 1995), Duck at last flies because of her good heart and a friend who makes her dream come true.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Like the star of Cecil's Gator, Duck is a carousel creature who longs for a new spin on life-she yearns to fly like the flocks she sees flapping by. When a wayward duckling adopts Duck as a mentor and friend, Duck rises to the occasion, literally, by teaching her young charge to fly. As Duckling succeeds at his lessons, however, Duck realizes that she risks never seeing her friend again.Cecil employs simple sentences and brief exchanges to infuse his quirky duck-out-of-water scenario with a plethora of universal emotions: " `Now remember to be polite,' she said to Duckling as she straightened some of his new feathers. `You're going to do fine.' " Cecil's finely brush-textured oil paintings, a mix of round spot illustrations and full-page scenes, present a Victorian-looking amusement park, which after the opening page is devoid of children, thus contributing to a mood of mysterious after-hours magic. In what has become the artist's signature style, dusky hues-grays, greens, browns, golds-prevail, helping draw attention to the whiteness of the ducks' wide wings. Ages 3-5. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Duck, a carousel animal who yearns to fly, helps a real duckling learn how to use his wings. She loses her companion when Duckling flies south for the winter. But he returns with the spring and, in a heartwarming conclusion, gives Duck a ride into the sky. Impressively understated yet expressive oil paintings enhance the poignancy of this unusual tale. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Equally affecting on literal and metaphorical levels, this tale of a wooden carousel duck who yearns to fly like a real duck makes prime shared reading. When a small, live duckling waddles up, dreamy Duck finds herself cast into the role of parent. Though she can lavish her charge with TLC, when it comes to flying lessons it's time to leave the carousel in search of more capable instruction. As in his Gator (2007), which is set on the same ride (the gator gets a cameo here), Cecil depicts his main character with a rather startling hole in the heart (where the pole goes), but also ably captures nuances of feeling in body angles and poses and, here, evokes a strong sense of intimacy. All too soon, the fledgling flies off--to return after a long, lonely winter large enough at last to carry his adoptive mom into the sky. She's still much bigger than he is--but at least her dreams don't come true by having her turn real, which makes for a refreshing change. (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Returning to the scene of his book Gator (2007), Cecil here introduces another of the animals, Duck. Duck's dream is to fly, but with wooden wings. He's happily distracted when he meets little Duckling, but eventually Duck realizes his pal needs to learn how to fly. The question is: How is he going to do that? Much of the sentiment here will appeal more to an adult than a child, especially the way Duck must let Duckling go and try his wings. Then there's the climactic moment when full-grown Duckling reappears; now it's his turn to take Duck on his back and show him what flying is all about. Cecil's varied design keeps visual interest. Some pictures are full page, some are round cameos in frames, and still others are impressive two-page spreads. The animals are charmers, and though the message may be lost on children, they will still respond to the warmth and love that the ducks feel for each other.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2008 Booklist