Quack! There's a Duck on the Moon

by Arthur Yorinks, Adrienne Yorinks (Illustrator)

A little duck builds a personal-sized rocket ship to transport him to the moon. Although the moon is certainly as beautiful as he dreamed, he feels lonely there and misses his friends. He soon realizes where he really belongs and parachutes safely back to Earth. The story is vibrantly illustrated with quilts made from antique fabrics. Young children will enjoy sharing their own interpretations of the little ducks tale and the accompanying patchworks.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Space

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Arthur Yorinks is a playwright, director, and author of more than thirty-five picture books for children, including the Caldecott Medal–winning Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski. His most recent picture book is Presto and Zesto in Limboland, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Arthur Yorinks lives in Cambridge, New York.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost like reading a wordless book, because most of the words are, yes, "quack." But kids could have fun 'translating' Duck to Human, and the pictures can be enjoyed by kids or adults. This is shorter and simpler than most of Yorinks' works, for younger children, nonsensical but not weird.

Thanks again due to openlibrary.org for archiving a copy.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute story written mostly in "quack" - duck language. The reader gets to interpret the story that is beautifully illustrated.

[Josie B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told in the International Language of Ducks, this is a simple story about a duck who rides a rocket to the moon, misses his friends, and parachutes back home. I usually show the cover and ask the children what do they think it is about. I read it with lots of expression and acting out (hold fingers up for count down, leaps and sink down for parachute scene), and the children usually join in. At the end of each part I ask the children what they think is going on. Talking about a story like this is a great way to build narrative skills.

I pair this with Ivan Bates' "Five Little Ducks" or Eva Moore's "Lucky Ducklings" for a quacking up storytime. I also like to throw in this Dr. Seuss tongue twister from "Oh, Say Can You Say?":

We have two ducks.
One Blue. One Black.

And when our blue duck goes "Quack-Quack"
Our black duck quickly quack-quacks back.

The quacks Blue quacks make her quite a quacker,
But Black is a quicker quacker- backer.

[Becky H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quack that goes to the moon and then comes back to her friends. Book is written in "duck" "Quack quacked, quacked to the moon." The kids can "read" this after hearing this because it is a bunch of quacking. They love it. I thought it was ok with cute illustrations.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great example of figuring out words in context! The story is told primarily in quacks, but a savvy reader will be able to figure out what's really going on. I think this will be an interactive storytime as the kids will need to tell me what's happening - to "translate," in effect.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute book! The artwork is patchwork quilt and it's written in "Quack" (the official duck language)but readers can still understand the plot- Quack the duck wants to visit the moon so he does, but then he misses his earthly friends and wants to come back.

[KareBare · Rating 5 out of 5]

QUACK!! Tooo cute ^.^

[Marcelaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't think I would find a children's book that was dumber than Banana!, but amazingly I did. This is a book written mostly in duck language, which means 99% of the words are "quack". So stupid.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

New favorite book about ducks, or the letter Q. Can't wait to use it for storytime.