Review by New York Times Review
Grown-ups never quite get that people are different and that you don't have to be like someone to like them. So imagine how preschoolers feel. "Jasper & Joop" is the most recent of Dunrea's pint-size web-footed adventures. Just as some children love splashing in puddles while others couldn't fathom anything less appealing, two goslings, Jasper (the tidy one) and Joop (messy), frolic in different ways but with mutual appreciation. When a swarm of bees poses a threat to their day's merriment, they flee together. Even very different friends stick together in times of need. BUSY-BUSY LITTLE CHICK By Janice N. Harrington. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. 32 pp. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Based on a Central African fable, "The Hen's House," this story has strong roots in the oral tradition. "Chilly-cold" chicks complain with little peo-peo-peos, and Mama N soso steps with a cwa-cwa-cwa and clucks prucfe.' pruck! Every night Mama tells her chicks they'll build an ilombe, a new house, the next day. But while she gets distracted by tasty worms and crickets (Mama is the first little pig), Busy-Busy Chick works. Pinkney's animated chickens, scurrying and fluttering in great swaths of marigold and orange, impart abundant joy. BLUEBIRD Written and illustrated by Bob Staake. 40 pp. Schwartz & Wade. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Few picture books capture the somber hues of loneliness and introspection as stunningly as Staake does in this aptly wordless tale of a boy and a bird. Staake, a New Yorker cartoonist and creator of "The Red Lemon," a New York Times Best Illustrated Book, has drawn a book of true beauty. A young boy is bullied, and while the teacher is oblivious, a bluebird sees all. He sings a merry tune. He plays fly-and-seek. He befriends the boy, then he finds the boy new friends. All this plays out in a New York City landscape of melancholy grays and sky blue, and an unexpected, but welcome, flutter of violet. A rainbow of colors descends in the final pages for an enchanted, bittersweet ending. LUCKY DUCKLINGS By Eva Moore. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. 32 pp. Orchard Books. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 7) "Lucky Ducklings" is one of those childhood staples, a happy duck family tale. This deserving heir to Robert McCloskey, updated in a golden wash of watercolor and with a true rescue story as inspiration, stars Mama Duck, Pippin, Bippin, Tippin, Dippin "and last of all . . . Little Joe." One day, the family heads out of the park and into town for a walk when one by one, the babies fall through the cracks of a storm drain. Help! Luckily, firefighters don't just rescue cats in trees. An unabashedly adorable caper, this crowd-pleaser already feels like a classic. ODD DUCK By Cecil Castellucci. Illustrated by Sara Varon. 96 pp. First Second Books. $15.99. (Graphic novel; ages 6 to 10) What makes for a good old ordinary duck? Is it eating "everyday duck pellets"? Checking out "A History of Good Ducks" from the library? Theodora thinks so, and she is set in her ways. Then a new duck moves in next door. Chad has "all kinds of gadgets and sculptures that were both modern and strange." He has mismatched feathers - askew. He scratches these feathers with a fork. He and Theodora will not be friends. Or will they? Castellucci's story about accepting differences brims with appealingly quirky touches, and Varon's panels are funny and fresh in this all-too-rare and very fine example of the early-reader graphic novel. PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [April 14, 2013]
Review by Booklist Review
Chad is an odd duck, whereas Theodora is a normal duck; she just likes to do some things a little differently. But when the other ducks laugh at the odd duck, is it really Chad they're making fun of? The creators' separate works have long championed the individual, so it is no surprise that Varon's gentle art and Castellucci's nuanced writing combine in a sweet, quiet tale that celebrates the joys of being unique. Both have done graphic novels in the past; here, though, they use more of a hybrid style, alternating a more traditional picture-book layout with pages divided into panels and featuring speech bubbles. Fans of Varon's work will love her trademark anthropomorphic characters, bright colors, and detailed but never cluttered pictures, which invite lingering over each page. Teen writer Castellucci's name on the cover may convince some older readers to give this one a shot, but it is aimed squarely at elementary readers, who, hopefully, will soak up the message to embrace their own odd-duckness.--Wildsmith, Snow Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Castellucci's comics-style chapter book explores a misfit friendship with lots of help from Varon's bubbly, lighthearted artwork. "Feathers not well-oiled!" shouts a caption balloon, reflecting Theodora Duck's alarm about her hipstery new neighbor, Chad, as she stands over him, "welcome" cake in hand. Chad also makes strange sculptures, has multicolored feathers, and scratches himself with a fork. But after an invitation ("Would you like to look through my telescope?") and a revelation ("She had never looked so closely at a star"), Theodora discovers that Chad makes a good companion. Varon (Robot Dreams) has fun contrasting Theodora's prissy femininity with Chad's slovenliness. When a chance remark from a bystander leads to a rift (which of them is the "odd duck"?), Castellucci (The Year of the Beasts) handles Theodora's remorse and the friends' reconciliation with humor and insight. It's more of a rom-com than a story about juvenile friendship, but silly details like Theodora's swimming posture exercises ("Teacup did not fall once! A new personal best!"), the ducks' ridiculously stringy arms and legs, and the careful avoidance of mush will click with the book's audience. Ages 6-up. Author's agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. (May) ? (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-Theodora, a duck with a yen for lavender hats, stargazing, and staying north for the winter, prefers her solitary life slightly outside the duck community. She is dismayed by the grubby, flamboyant appearance of Chad when he moves in next door and populates his yard with art installations. But worst of all, he also chooses to remain at home throughout the snowy season. A story about first impressions, tolerance, and friendship, the narrative takes some time to fully click, but when it does there are many sweet touches to be found in the relationship between these odd ducks. Mostly eschewing panels and only occasionally using word balloons, this charming picture book cum early chapter book cum graphic novel has soft, clear pastel tones, strong lines, and lots of whimsical detail. Warm and with solid insight into the nature of quirk, this title will amuse most readers, and it may be a welcome balm for those who feel a bit different.-Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Theodora puts on her slippers one webbed foot at a time, "just like all the other ducks," but she does have a few quirks, such as swimming with a teacup and saucer on her head and dipping her Duck Food in mango salsa. In her opinion, however, her quirks are nothing compared to Chad's, the duck of a different feather who moves in next door and disrupts her happy routine life with his loudly constructed yard art and splashy swimming technique. In an appealingly hybrid design -- part graphic novel, part picture book -- playful cartoon illustrations in spring colors follow the charmingly drumstick-shaped neighbors on their path to discovering that they have more in common -- a love of stargazing, an aversion to migrating -- than they first thought. Yet when a bystander taunts, "Look at that odd duck!" as the pair walks past, which odd duck does she mean? Each assumes the other is the one who sticks out like a sore thumb. (Yes, these ducks have thumbs.) A lively friendship story that shows it's more fun to be different than "normal," and most fun of all to be different with a buddy. christine m. heppermann (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A sublime tale of two strange ducks who overcome the odds--pun completely intended--and become friends. Theodora is an odd duck indeed: She spends her days swimming with a teacup balanced on her head, flavoring her duck pellets with mango salsa and watching the stars. She is content, her days are full--but they're not quite fulfilling. One fateful day, a new duck named Chad moves next door. He's strange, unstructured, disorderly and loud--the opposite of quietly meticulous Theodora. Despite his eccentricities--and her initial judgment of him--the pair bond over a shared love of the stars. During an outing, another duck loudly points out that "odd duck" as the pair waddle past. Each thinks that the other must be the odd one, resulting in an argument. As Theodora ponders their fight, she realizes that though she's happy with her life, it doesn't mean much without someone to share it with. A moral that could have been nauseatingly saccharine in the hands of a lesser author is handled deftly here. Castellucci and Varon shine together, with Varon's trademark animal characters and Castellucci's careful prose. Readers expecting a typical graphic novel may be a bit put off; reading like a long picture book, this is reliant on illustrations that stretch across an entire page as opposed to many boxy, structured panels, resulting in a wonderfully odd and endearing little offering. This clever celebration of individuality delights. (Graphic fiction. 6-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
