Duck's New Words product reviews

Miss Three was extremely happy to find she had a new book about a duck. She is fascinated by animals and birds of all kinds, in common with most preschoolers learning to interact with the world, and enjoys trying to imitate various sounds. Of course, this also increases the fun for the adult who is reading the book to the child. The illustrations are bright and self-explanatory, so a child who is not yet able to read can follow the story without assistance as she leafs through yet again after storytime is over for the day,

Duck's New Words is all about being confident in yourself and learning to share your skills with others. Duck has been brought up by a cat, so is quite comfortable with meowing instead of quacking. In fact, Duck has never even learned to quack! There has been no need. But when new creatures arrive, Duck is keen to learn their languages. Neither Pig's oink nor Horse's neigh presents a challenge, but the quack most ducks can produce is far too difficult.

So, the decision is made to teach the other ducks a new language instead! They master Pig's and Horse's sounds without difficulty, and are very pleased with themselves, but they simply cannot manage to
produce a feline meow. Lots of hilarity follows as the different creatures all try to copy one another. Miss Three joined in with enthusiasm!

I noted a suggestion on the acknowledgements page at the start of the book that there was a similar story available on YouTube, so I made a point of checking it. The short movie from Animal Planet (A Mamma Cat and her Yellow, Feathered Kittens) was only a few minutes long, but it was delightful and a perfect accompaniment for the book. It is suitable for very young children who can easily watch it on their own, especially if they are already familiar with Duck's New Words.

Incidentally, I had a similar experience when I was farming in Ireland. A bantam lost her own eggs, so she stole two duck eggs and hatched two ducklings. The ducklings regarded her as their mother as baby birds will imprint on the first living being they see when they first become aware of the world. The bantam raised them to young adulthood, and they would snuggle under her feathers even when they were bigger than she was! However, they did learn to quack as there were other ducks in the farmyard, and they nearly gave their poor mother a heart attack when they insisted on exploring puddles.