Zachary Quack, Mini Monster

Hairy Maclary #16

by Lynley Dodd

Zachary Quack is back! The irrepressible little duckling is back and more pittery-pattery, skittery-scattery than ever. He's busy hustling and rustling all sorts of creatures on the riverbank when he comes across a dragonfly. He's determined to catch the dragonfly but it's far too quick, leading Zachary Quack on a flapping chase. He gets tangled in some wool and an old shoe, stuck in some glue and traipses through a sandpit and all the while not being able to catch the dragonfly. At the end of the chase it's not a little yellow fluffy duck we see but ...Zachary Quack Mini Monster!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction

Hardcover

First published June 2, 2005

About the author

Dame Lynley Dodd is an internationally celebrated writer for children whose titles are highly regarded and much loved by her readers in New Zealand and around the world. Her stories are known for their lively sound qualities, curious animal characters, and the memorable illustrations that accompany the text. Lynley has received numerous awards, both for her writing and illustration, and in 2002 she was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to children’s literature.

Lynley was a founding member of Bookrapt in 1983.

Reviews

[Aroha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun repetition in this one, had to take a star off because it gets my son a bit too hyped before bed time rather than settling him down

[Suresh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pittery, pattery fun loving, innocence of Zachary Quack reminds me that we kill these little chooks. We kill these little chooks like Zachary Quack because they don't serve our financial and meat loving hunger.
May we see the humanity in the fun loving future Zachary Quacks of this world, gone too soon, by being mindful of our diet and choosing plant based foods and so, saying no to the breeding and killing of animals.
For Zachary Quack reminds me so.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zachary Quack leaves his pond with a pittery pattery, and startles various animals and insects of his travels. He spots a dragonfly that went flick, flick, flick, and the chase is on. Running pittery pattery over, under, and trough various obstacles Zachary Quack finds himself transformed into a small monster.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat and charming, lovely illustrations.

[Eilidh Shrimpton]

Has a nice rhythm.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy memories of my sister and the love of these books.

[Freddie D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still a fun little adventure, but it sadly falls short in comparison to the original.

[Mel Glynan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and fun. An easy read with a natural flow. Lacks some of the storyline substance Lynley Doddss’ other books have.

[Libby Shuttleworrh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fav book from childhood had it since I was really young

[Emma-Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute illustrations but felt very removed from the character.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the rhythm, rhyme and repetition we expect from the Hairy Maclary series, this one is lighter on story but still fun and cute. I love the other characters making appearances in the background.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's easy to tell which books are popular, you only have to look at the creased covers and dog-eared pages to know that they were enjoyed numerous times. So it is rather strange to find an almost pristine book by Lynley Dodd in my son's collection. For a while she was the go-to author as my son adored the adventures of Slinky Malinki and Hairy Maclary; they were just so funny.

We got this one having enjoyed Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack. Look, it's a really sweet story but it just didn't have the same magic for us. Maybe by the time we got to this one, he had grown out of this format. Having reread it now, I can see it is a delightful story and beautifully illustrated as ever. When you read it, it makes you go "ahh!" but it doesn't make you hoot with laughter. Depends what you want from a book I guess. This would be lovely with a younger child.

[Shahrun · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gorgeous little Zachary Quack gets himself into a right mess chasing a dragonfly. Too cute.

[Sophie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

We got this book out from the library five days ago and I've had to read it at bedtime every night since. My two year old is rarely genuinely interested in his bedtime story, normally it's just a time for him to jump on mummy and daddy's bed, but with this one he will sit beside me, point at the pictures and is now joining it with the repeating phrases "flick, flick, flick" and "quick, quick, quick". I will definitely be buying a copy of this to keep at home.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great monster book for toddler storytimes. A little duck chases a dragonfly and makes a mess of himself, looking more and more like a monster the further he goes until he lands in the pond and everything gets cleaned off. Super cute.

[Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute.

[Nadina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not sure how I didn't write a review first time reading this but it was adorable and simple. I love the rhyming and illustrations. Cute book.