Review Detail

This is an interesting picture book with a catchy refrain courtesy a duck and his beloved kazoo. Its cheerful and hopeful, but also a little sad, especially in the beginning.

We meet a duck living alone in a beautiful lake, his only companion his trusty kazoo. Everyone else, it seems, was blown away by a hurricane (thats all the background we get&we dont know exactly what happened, just that duck is all alone). Duck entertains himself, but hes definitely a bit lonely.

Then winter comes and duck packs his things to head to warmer climes. Along the way he meets up with a group of ducks and soon settles in among them, playing them songs on his kazoo (la ditty, zu zu). When it is time to go back home to his lake, duck wants to go&but he also doesnt want to be alone again. So he asks his new friends to come visit him and they happily agree to go along and see someplace new. And duck, presumably, lives happily ever after with his friends and his kazoo.

This is a sweet read-aloud with dreamy watercolor illustrations, especially with the kazoos refrain and I can definitely imagine it being a favorite for many young children. As an adult, I wonder if it will also bring up questions (like what happens when his friends want to go home?), but I imagine Im thinking about it too much (or perhaps I cant help but remember the hurricanes I lived through in Florida). As a child, I think this would really have made me want to get a kazoo and play along with duck.

Recommended for ages 4 and up (though it could definitely be read aloud to younger kids).