Reviews

PreS-K-This below-average barnyard drama burdens appealing, cut-paper illustrations with an overly long, didactic, and ultimately unsuccessful text. Deluska Duck has carefully made her nest on top of a haystack to protect her young from hungry foxes. Unfortunately, the ducklings are unable to fly and therefore must jump down to her. The first eight come down safely, but ducking number nine is too frightened to follow. Various farm animals encourage him, but to no avail. When number nine does finally make the big leap, Deluska promptly sets a new challenge for her offspring: to jump into the river and swim. Children won't be too surprised to find that number nine is still reluctant to try new experiences, but they won't care very much about his troubles either. None of the animals have strong, distinct personalities, a flaw that makes it difficult for readers to become involved in the story. The pictures, while colorful, do little to compensate for this weakness. With so many more appealing farm stories (Martin Waddell and Jill Barton's The Pig in the Pond [Candlewick, 1992]) and better books about personal achievement (David McPhail's Something Special [Little, 1988]) don't bother jumping at this one.-Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh