One Duck Stuck: A Mucky Ducky Counting Book

by Phyllis Root, Jake Chapman (Illustrator)

Exuberant rhythms and vibrant illustrations in a one-of-a-kind counting book!

One duck is stuck in the muck. Can two fish, tails going swish, help? What about three moose, munching on spruce? Will four crickets, chirping in the thickets, be able to pull the unlucky duck out of the muck? With bright, spirited illustrations by Jane Chapman, this counting tale by Phyllis Root is a feast of sounds and numbers that will have young listeners scrambling to join the slippy, sloppy fun.

Genres: Picture Books, Counting, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Mathematics, Fiction

Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

"Picture books are performances," says Phyllis Root, quoting some sage advice she once received. "They're performances that involve a child--something both of you do. And once I started thinking of them that way, I started getting much looser about making up words and playing around with rhythm."

Phyllis Root picked up an early affinity for colloquial language while growing up in Indiana and southern Illinois, "where people actually say things like, 'I got a hitch in my git-along'!" She decided to be a writer in the fifth grade, but it wasn't until she was thirty years old that she took a writing course with an influential teacher who gave her "the tools" she says she needed. "That's when I figured out that you could learn to be a writer," she says. What followed was a series of rollicking stories that take on a new life when read aloud, among them ONE DUCK STUCK, a one-of-a-kind counting book; KISS THE COW!, an affectionate salute to stubbornness; WHAT BABY WANTS, a tale of increasingly ridiculous efforts to quiet an infant that one reviewer compared to an episode of I LOVE LUCY, and LOOKING FOR A MOOSE, a buoyant tale with a final surprise discovery.


The author does "endless rewriting" before a book is finished, but often starts out by writing her stories in her head, a trick she learned as a time-pressed mother when her two daughters were very young. For example, RATTLETRAP CAR--a joyful celebration of perseverance--began with her playing around with sounds ("clinkety clankety, bing bang pop!") and calling up bits of old camp songs.


A master of rhythmic read-alouds, Phyllis Root exhibits a range many writers would envy. Her counting book TEN SLEEPY SHEEP is as serene and lulling as ONE DUCK STUCK is rambunctious. "Counting sheep isn't always easy," she notes. "Once, while we were farm-sitting, my daughter and I had to chase down two runaway lambs in the growing darkness, then count twenty-seven frisky lambs to make sure they were all safe for the night. Luckily, they were." OLIVER FINDS HIS WAY is a quiet, classic picture book about a defining moment in the life of a small child--getting lost and having the pluck to find the way home. On the other extreme, Phyllis Root takes on no less than the whole universe in BIG MOMMA MAKES THE WORLD, a powerful, original, down-home creation myth that received rave reviews and won the prestigious BOSTON GLOBE-HORN BOOK Award. Most recently, Phyllis Root penned LUCIA AND THE LIGHT, a timeless adventure about one brave girl's quest that was inspired by Nordic lore.


When she's not writing, Phyllis Root teaches at Vermont College's MFA in Writing for Children program. She lives with her two daughters and two cats in a 100-year-old house in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and loves to read (mostly mysteries with female protagonists) or spend time outdoors gardening, camping, sailing, or traveling. "One of the things I've learned about myself," she confides, "is that when I get really stuck and can't seem to get writing, it's because I've forgotten to take time out to play."

Reviews

[Becca Buckman · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Duck Stuck: A Mucky Duck Counting Book, by Phyllis Root with illustrations by Jane Chapman, tells the delightful story of a poor duck “stuck in the muck, down by the deep green marsh” (p. 1). A variety of different animals, counting by numbers 2-10, make their way to the pond to try to save Duck from the marsh. The reader seems skeptical at first, but listeners of all ages will be surprised and excited with this happy ending! The story fits perfectly into the counting genre of picture books for young children.

a.) One Duck Stuck, not only helps the reader with counting 1-10, predictions and rhyming words, the great use of onomatopoeias will also make this story enjoyable for all.

b.) The story begins with “one duck stuck in the muck” (p.1) and ends with “they all help the duck who got stuck in the muck” (p. 25). As each animal, one more than the previous, tries to help “the duck stays stuck deep in the muck down by the ….marsh”. The rhyming words and predictable text both encourage listeners to read along and predict what will happen next. Also, the onomatopoeias used through the story create fun for the reader and listener.

c.) Great examples of the rhymes and onomatopoeia include phrases such as “7 snails making slippery trails – sloosh, sloosh”, “8 eight possums nibbling on blossoms - slosh, slosh”, “9 snakes leaving little wakes - slink, slink”, and the “10 dragonflies zooming through the skies – zing, zing” (p. 13, 15, 17, 19). Putting together their “splish, clomp, pleep, plop, plunk, slosh, slosh, slink and zing”, the animals are able to get the duck out of the muck (p. 23-24)!

The counting, rhyming and onomatopoeic text found in the book will be great for young children. Educators and parents can easily create many lessons to feature with this picture book. Children will learn how to count with the fun animals on each page; they will also be able to read along with the predictable and repeated text found throughout the book. In my classroom, I would make a file folder game with the animals, having the students match the number to the correct number of animals. The students will then have to put the animals in numerical order. The students will learn how to count and will also learn how to recognize the numbers 1-10. The students and I would also find all the rhyming words from the story.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Counting, rhyme (not always well done) and the possibility of achieving more with collaborative/collective action delivered with bright, colourful illustrations. When I read this to 2-3 year olds they respond to the refrain "who will help?" with an enthusiastic, "I will!" which is beautiful! and they seem pretty enthusiastic for the book too, so that is definitely a point in it's favour.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute counting book about a duck who gets stuck in the mud and the various animals who help him. It has a lot of fun sounds and would be good for teaching numbers.

[Mira Prater · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this! Spoiler: the duck gets unstuck!

[Ashton Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: One Duck Stuck

Author: Phyllis Root

Illustrator: Jane Chapman

Genre: Concept Book, Counting Book

Theme: Numbers, helping others, compassion, cooperation

Opening Line/Sentence: Down by the marsh, by the sleepy, slimy marsh, one duck gets stuck in the muck, down by the deep green marsh.

Brief Book Summary: A duck gets stuck in the mud and throughout the story, different numbers (1-10) of animals/insects come along to try and help the duck get out of the mud. At the end, all of the animals work together to get the duck out of the mud. The duck happily flies away.

Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
Helen Rosenberg (Booklist, April 1, 1998 (Vol. 94, No. 15))
One duck gets stuck in the muck, down by the deep green marsh," and "two fish, tails going swish," try unsuccessfully to help. So do three moose, four crickets, and so on, until all the animals team up to successfully liberate the duck. Perfect for reading aloud, this counting book not only contains bright bold illustrations but also has lots of "clomp, clomp" and "splish, splish," as well as other sound effects that children will love to replicate. In addition, little ones will quickly recognize the refrain on each double spread and chime in. This book is great fun and sure to become an instant favorite among the toddler crowd.

Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
Kristin Harris (Children's Literature)
A rhyming, counting book, this is a story about a duck that gets stuck in the muck. Crying out for help, many creatures come in numeric sequence to attempt to get the duck unstuck. The creatures include such unsuspecting rescuers as crickets, snails and frogs. While individually they fail, when they all get together and try, they succeed. The duck gets out of the muck. The illustrations are bold and colorful, and apt to hold a young child's attention. Also geared to the young child are the many repeated phrases and sounds. This book is fun to listen to and look at.

Response to Two Professional Reviews: I agree with both of these reviews because I think the book is catchy enough to keep children entertained. It has many sound effects the children can chime in on and the rhyming keeps it interesting. The illustrations are wonderful and really add to the story.

Evaluation of Literary Elements: As the animals in the story are moving, they are diagonal to the ground/water. Since the duck is stuck in the mud, it’s on the bottom of the page, which implies the duck is grounded and less mobile. At the end, when the duck is flying away, it’s on the top of the page, signifying a place of freedom (in this case freedom from the mud).

Consideration of Instructional Application: In my classroom, children can practice counting animals from the story. I would have all of the animals cut out and my class would count them while I put them up on the board as I read through the story. After a read aloud, I would have my students pretend to be the animals and count each other. I could also connect my lesson to math, since it involves counting, or I could connect it to science and teach them about the different kinds of animals in the story.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good counting, rhyming, sound-effect book with bold colors. I enjoyed the different animals that came to help. The reading and illustrations might work with the toddler group, but the counting aspect can be added for the preschool. Maybe I'll try both, taking into consideration the attention span of the toddlers.

3/31/10 & 4/1/10 After trying this one with preschool, I think I might skip the toddler group--only because we get such young ones in it. But the preschoolers did well with their counting as they usually do. And I think they liked the creatures and the rhyming. The colorful illustrations were probably nice for them, too.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up One Duck Stuck because it reminded me of Ducks in Muck but for more advanced readers. The two books use similar rhymes but One Duck Stuck is three times the length and the rhymes border on tongue twisters.

The basic plot centers around the stuck duck and her attempts to get out of the muck. She enlists the help of her swamp friends: fish, insects, some birds and a variety of animals. Separately the can't help the duck but what if they work together?

Both Sean and Harriet enjoy One Duck Stuck. Sean likes it for the counting and the rhymes. Harriet likes it for the creatures.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vibrant and humorous illustrations and a fun-to-read-aloud rhyme make this a delightful counting book as one duck seeks help getting unstuck from the mud and a plethora of creatures, from frogs and dragonflies to moose and skunks, come to help.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at drop-in story time on 2/8/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Drop-In Story Time on 6/14/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who will help the duck who is stuck? One Duck Stuck, written by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Jane Chapman, is a counting picture book depicting the predicament of a duck who "gets stuck in the muck, down by the deep green marsh". The duck asks for help, and groups of animals in sequential counting order come to answer the call. Two fish splish, three moose clomp, four crickets pleep, and so on come to the aid of the duck, all the way up to ten, to no avail. It is not until all of the groups of animals work together that the duck gets unstuck with a "spluck"! A great moral of working together to best solve a problem is revealed at the end. The illustrations are bright and vivid with deep colors to portray the animals and the surrounding marsh. The most charming aspect of this story is the fun use of onomatopoeia vocabulary. The use of repetition is also appealing to young readers and listeners as they can participate along in calling out, "Help! Help! Who can help? We can! We can!" as it is read on each page. The sound effects alone would keep the attention of young readers, as well as the animal friends that come to the rescue. This counting book does not really emphasize counting however, and focuses more on the fun vocalizations. This book could be used for counting lessons (with more teacher emphasis on the actual counting), as well as a cross curricular science tie of types of animals and their features (primary grades standard). Recommended for ages 2-7 as a read aloud and ages 6-8 as a reader, as there are more advanced spelling patterns as well as the needed ability to read the unfamiliar sound effect words. An Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Winner, A National Council of Teachers of English Notable Children's Book in Language Arts, and a Parents Best Book of the Year.

[Kayla Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children are taught not only about different numbers and counting in One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root, but they are also taught about the importance of helping others through the book. In this book, young readers are taught how to count by seeing the number order in an interactive picture book. This helps them memorize numbers and count in order by showing them how many animals are on the next page. It is not simply about learning numbers and counting, but it extends beyond that. The story centers around a duck who gets stuck in the muck and he needs help getting out of the muck so he asks for help from his other forest friends to do the job. A number of animals, including fish, moose, crickets, snakes, possums, snails, skunks, and much more try to assist ducks while they are getting out of the muck. There is a lengthening of time between friends trying to help each other, and eventually, ten friends try to help each other. Eventually, they all agreed that if everyone worked together, they would be able to free up the duck if everyone chipped in! According to Sanchez "books written for children provide a good gauge of a particular society's views of childhood and a measure we know children engage with themselves directly" (Sanchez-Eppler, 38). Children will be inspired to behave kindly and to help others through the illustrations and information presented in this book. Their lifelong learning journey will be enriched by participating in this skill, one that they will never forget. Although I used counting books as the theme for this book, there are other messages within it, that make this book an ideal way for kids to learn math and other concepts.

[Carly Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counting books are easy to get redundant and repetitive, but when done with rhythm and meaning they can become very appealing books. ‘One Duck Stuck’ does a great job including rhythm, repetition, and rhythm making the book all in all enjoyable to read. It starts off with a “duck, with no luck, getting stuck, deep in the muck”. It then moves onto 10 different animals such as fish, moose, crickets, frogs, and more all including rhyming words of their own. Not only does each page include images corresponding to the number of the animals, but it also includes the physical number and the spelling to help expose the children to various forms of each number. After going through all 10 animals, and counting their way up to ten, the storyline continues. The animals are all stuck in the muck, but they end up working together, eventually escaping from the muck. While doing so the reader can continue to cound the number of animals pictured in the images.

Overall this is a fun book for the preschool-kindergarten level, especially children working on counting and or rhyming. Not only does it address counting, but it also touches on habitats of each animals and what plays into their environment. This can be used to transform the book even further. Students can be assigned a habitat (ocean, jungle, arctic, etc.) and create their own counting book by drawing images of animals that live in these habitats. There is so much that can be done with this book, and children will want to reread it over and over again because of the fun repetition and rhythmic aspect.

[Emily Costella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very fun and colorful for children. It starts off with one duck stuck in the mud. He asks for help from people and from there it counts up to ten with a bunch of different animals. Each page has a fun noise word to go with the animal and it would be a fun read aloud to children. I think all of the colors on each page and the bold numbers make it fun for the students to watch and keep track. Another thing that I think helps this book is that with each number, there are that many of that animal depicted. For example, on the 2 page, there are two fish. If children were reading this book on their own, not only would thy be able to recognize the number itself, but would be able to count them out. This would help in the classroom as well because I can point to each animal and count to "make sure" the number was correct. It would be a very good book to teach with.
I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I would use it in kindergarten as a read aloud to kind of gage where my students are at with their numbers before I begin teaching them myself. I can use it as an assessment tool and can ask simple questions like who knows what number comes after which and so on. I enjoyed this book and would use it in class.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A duck becomes stuck in the marsh in this jaunty rhythmic counting book from author Phyllis Root and illustrator Jane Chapman. Appealing for help, our anatine hero is approached by a series of other animals, from two little fish to ten dragonflies, each of which attempts and fails to extract him from the icky sticky muck. It takes everyone working together to get this little duck free...

Pairing a fun read-aloud text with a rollicking rhythm and excellent use of repetition, with bright, colorful illustrations that capture the sense of silly humor in the text, One Duck Stuck would make an excellent story-time selection for the younger picture book crowd. Phyllis Root is a Minnesota author, and she mentions in the rear dust-jacket blurb that all of the animals included in the book are to be found in her home state's wetlands, so this would also make a good local interest title, for residents of the North Star state.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny counting book where the duck gets its foot stuck in the muck and different animals try to rescue it. Two fish, three moose, four crickets, and so forth. None of the animals can help until they all work together to free the duck. In addition to the main picture, on the left hand side where the text is, the number is shown with additional pictures of the animals. This makes it easy for the child to count and learn to read their numbers. The pictures are cute. The only thing I didn’t care for were how some of the animals or how they tried to help get the duck unstuck didn’t always make sense. But that is a minor problem that younger children probably wouldn’t notice. If your child loves to count, then I highly recommend it.

[Taylor Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for counting skills! Using this book during a math lesson about learning your numbers is awesome. Along with that, you could use it to describe animals in a swamp. For example, this book starts off with "1 duck gets stuck in the muck, down by the deep green marsh". It then progresses with each set of new animals trying to help the duck get unstuck from the mud, but they all don't succeed. That isn't until they all work together to get the duck out and he is finally freed. I will be adding this to my classroom collection very soon!

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor duck is stuck in muck. He calls "help! help! who can help?" The animals come to help but no luck until finally , "spluck" his foot pops out. Ducks thanks all the animals and off he goes again.

teaching application- What a fun story to have kids practice counting, rhyming, and interacting with during story time. Plastic animals would be fun to have available with number cards to use when reenacting.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a cute book that I am actually really surprised that I really enjoyed it so much. Cassie really giggled at this book at all the things they did to try to get the duck unstuck. I also love that they hid counting so much in the book. Cassie loved helping me count on every page to make sure that the words matched with the illustration. The illustrations are bright and colorful perfect for the toddler to preschool range. I highly recommend to check this book out.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good choice for storytime. Definitely one that you can use to ask questions about what is happening in the pictures and if the kids are old enough to recognize words on the page they can easily say the repeated phrase along with you when you read.

However, I was mildly terrified that I was accidentally say another word that rhymes with duck, stuck, and muck. Fortunately the author didn't really place any other f or ph words nearby.

[Kate Shapiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked how this book used the whole page for the illustrations. I feel like if I was a kid, I would’ve loved this and been fully into the story. I also like how the number was emphasized and then the amount of whatever animal that was next in the story was next to the big number but smaller. I think that helps children understand the visuals of it better by showing how each time the duck asks for more and more help, 1 animal gets added on.

[Jackie Sisley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Duck Stuck is, as the title implies, a little duck who gets stuck in the mud and needs help getting out. This book is short, well-illustrated, colorful, and filled with a variety of animals. The book encourages helping those in need and using teamwork to overcome large obstacles. Each page features rhymes, onomatopeias, and repetitive lines which make it very engaging for the children.

[Maggie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a duck who gets his foot stuck in the marsh and can't get out. Many other animals come by to try and help but no one can get him out. till they all work together and eventually get him out.

This book was very cute and I really liked it. I also thought the illustrations were done very well.

I would use this to create a since of team work in my class room.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

It leaves me cold. The rhyme is fun, the vocabulary words are excellent, the pictures are bright and clear... but the plot makes no sense. How did the moose not succeed the first time? What was the cause of the success at the end? I think most children would be like my inner child, wanting to see actual attempts to get the duck out and the technique for the actual success.

[Jenna M · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root, Jane Chapman (Illustrator), is a great counting book for young children. It is also a great way to warm up your tongue to prepare for maybe a speech or a presentation because its full of sounds and numbers, which will keep young audiences mesmerized by the goofy fun tale. Jane Chapman's illustrations are bright and just as fun as the text.

[Ashley Wannenburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the book "One Dutch Stuck" written by Phyllis Root is an adorable book about a counting duck who ends up finding himself stuck in the mud with different animals who try to help him, I think this book would be a great one to teach children numbers. I also really thought that the illustrations in this book were really cute!

[Mama Bearian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duck is stuck, but who will help him? As the critters volunteer to help, duck stays stuck! Will he ever get free? This counting book (1-10) has a semi-repetitive refrain that has a great rhythm that kids will enjoy. I can see this one lending itself to a great felt board or other interactive read-aloud element.

[Rainey Rew · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a teacher, I could see this book as being a great way in incorporating counting on in math. It's creative and imaginative with the different animals coming in to try and save the one duck who is stuck in the marsh. I rated this high because I enjoyed how interactive this was!

[Read with Rose and Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cadence and rhyme adds a lot to this story, which is an oft-quoted favorite in our house. The cadence makes it fun to read, and features a lot of different animals to talk about as well as counting practice.

[Nicole Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute picture book about a duck who gets stuck in the muck. It has different animals and insects throughout trying to help get the duck unstuck. This book would be great to use for counting, rhyming and sequencing.

[J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

My kid had zero interest in this book, and I can't say I felt any differently (despite reading it aloud with attempted gusto.) The text quickly becomes tedious and the illustrations left us unmoved. There are many counting books that I would prefer to read.