Synopses & Reviews
Review
'"The illustrations are a wonderful combination of simplicity (the deceptively simple shapes of the animals and the two-dimensional spaces they inhabit) and complexity (paint texture, gorgeous color combination, and ever–changing compostion)."'
Review
'"Dreifus's art pulses with lots of surface energy."'
Review
'"This simple suspense story, and the circular plot provides a comforting bit of closure while listeners painlessly absorb both the counting lesson and the concept "an even dozen."'
Review
'"Children will enjoy helping Mother Duck call to her lost children, and the information about ducks and their habits is a bonus."'
Review
and#147;Deeply colored, hazy illustrations enliven this barnyard tale of a mother duck who becomes separated from some of her precious ducklings.and#8221; Booklist, ALA
and#147;The illustrations are a wonderful combination of simplicity (the deceptively simple shapes of the animals and the two-dimensional spaces they inhabit) and complexity (paint texture, gorgeous color combination, and everand#150;changing compostion).and#8221;
Kirkus Reviews
and#147;Dreifusand#8217;s art pulses with lots of surface energy.and#8221; Publishers Weekly
and#147;This simple suspense story, and the circular plot provides a comforting bit of closure while listeners painlessly absorb both the counting lesson and the concept and#147;an even dozen.and#8221; The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
and#147;Children will enjoy helping Mother Duck call to her lost children, and the information about ducks and their habits is a bonus.and#8221; School Library Journal
Synopsis
Mother Duck wants to show off her twelve newly hatched ducklings, so she parades them up the hill, across the road, and along the edge of the pasture. But when Mother Duck finally turns around, eight of her little ducklings are gone! She counts up, and she counts down, but no matter how she counts, her missing ducklings are not there. Can Farmer Donald help her find them?
About the Author
'Harriet Ziefert draws on a true story told to her by Santiago Cohen for the text of this Christmas tale. This is her first picture book collaboration with him, though they know each other from their many years in neighboring New Jersey towns.Donald Dreifuss lives on a small, hill farm in Unity, New Hampshire, with his wife, two children, a large tree frog, several parrots, four emu, two whippets, forty-four horned sheep, plus a large herd of dairy goats.'