It's Useful to Have a Duck Book

A little boy finds a rubber duck and uses him as a hat, a straw, a nose. But how does the duck use the little boy? By turning the book over, readers find the same story told from the duck’s point of view. Witty line drawings and text by the gifted Argentine author/illustrator Isol remind even the youngest child that there are always two points of view, and more than one way to be. This charming, innovative book in the form of an accordion is beautifully packaged in a slipcase.

Children's Literature

Little ones will delight in this fun-to-handle board book that actually offers two books in one. It can be read from the viewpoint of the boy who conveys a tale about himself and a duck and then from the viewpoint of the duck. The boy's point of view is expressed with vivid yellow pages, filled with humorous line drawings of what the boy does when he discovers the duck. He is shown doing many things with the duck, and in the end, listeners and readers find that the boy was in the bathtub all along, with his own rubber duck. The viewpoint of the duck is pictured in bright blue with clear line drawings that show how the duck feels about the same incident the boy describes. Text and illustrations bring about chuckles. The book is loosely bound and folds out and stretches to show many of the intriguing pictures at once. The size, approximately a six-inch square, also makes it nice for little ones. The suggested age range is three months to four years, but children in early primary grades could read it and create their own books that work two ways, as this one does. Its unique format makes it a winner. Reviewer: Nancy Garhan Attebury