Meet Woof & Quack

Friends Woof and Quack defy species expectations: Woof hates fetching (Meet) and Duck won't fly south (Winter). The narratives take place almost entirely in speech bubbles, which incorporate plenty of repetition for beginning readers. Unfortunately, goofy scenarios with humor arising from text-image interplay lose their oomph as Woof and Quack fade against the over-saturated backgrounds. [Review covers these Green Light Readers titles: Meet Woof & Quack and Woof & Quack in Winter.] (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Beginning readers may not know about stereotypes. They just know that Woof and Quack like to play fetch. Using fewer than 50 words and their variants, Swenson challenges species-specific behavior assumptions in this engaging, somewhat silly, and mildly surprising early reader. When Quack (a male mallard) learns that Woof (an un-gendered brown dog) does not like to fetch balls and other thrown objects, his only comment is "That is interesting"since he loves fetching. It doesn't take long before Woof is throwing and Quack is fetching increasingly unconventional items. Similarly, in companion title Woof Quack in Winter, Woof assumes that Quack will want to fly south for the winter. Instead Quack delights in all the snow activities while Woof is the one who longs for warmer climes. In both books Woof's and Quack's playful delight is helped by the use of common ideophonic sound effects. "NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM" sounds just like a duck and dog eating cake. The text is conveyed primarily through dialogue in speech bubbles that make it clear who is speaking and help new readers read expressively. The format allows for plenty of repetition as the duck and dog often confirm what the other said. Exuberant and expressive cartoon illustrations set against bright solid color backgrounds express the genuine friendship of these unlikely pals. Woof and Quack may not be quite ready to replace Elephant and Piggie, but they are just as much fun. (Early reader. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.