Five Little Duck Books

This past week, we learned about ducks. It all started because Agent 004 is fascinated by the song "5 Little Ducks."

Five little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only four little ducks came back.

The verses continue with four little ducks going out, then three, then two, then one, until finally, in a surprise (wink, wink) ending, all five little ducks come back.

I made up a set of movable pieces for our new felt board. Agent 004 had a grand old time moving them along with the lyrics. It is great to see that she knows her numerals and is able to subtract one to figure out how many ducks come back each day.

We read a nonfiction book about ducks -- DK's Watch me Grow: Duckling -- as well as about 20 story books.



Of those, here were our 5 favorites.

	Duck on a Bike by David Shannon A stunningly illustrated book, Duck on a Bike is the tale of a farm duck's adventure on two wheels. The kids asked me to read this book again and again.
	Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey The classic 1941 tale of what happens when the ducks cross the road. It has a rare combination of complex vocabulary and rhythmic text, and the monochromatic illustrations draw the children in.
	Chibi by Julia Takaya and Barbara Brenner A true-life version of Make Way for Ducklings, set in Tokyo. The book is lengthy -- 62 pages -- and has some content that may be upsetting to very small children. My 3 year old enjoyed pronouncing the Japanese words that are sprinkled through the text.
	Have You Seen my Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri A Caldecott Honor Book, Have You Seen my Duckling? is beautifully illustrated. The story is told in pictures and small children love to find the missing duck on each page. The story easy lends itself to counting activities and interactive reading.
	Curious George and the Dump Truck illustrated in the style of H.A. Rey by Vipah Interactive George's curiosity gets him in a bit of trouble, but a fortuitous turn of events makes the ducks happy.