Tufty: The Little Lost Duck Who Found Love

by Michael Foreman

A heart-warming story about a little duck finding his place in the big, wide world, from two times Kate Greenaway Medal Winner, Michael Foreman.
     Tufty the duckling lives with his family on an island in the middle of a lake. But when the ducks fly south for the winter, Tufty gets left behind. Lost and alone, Tufty doesn't know what to do, until he finds an unlikely new friend...

     Join this brave little duck as he finds a new home in an unexpected place, in a new book from acclaimed children's author, Michael Foreman.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Birds, Love, Friendship, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Michael has worked on magazines, book jackets, animated films, TV adverts, and even for the police, sketching criminals described by witnesses. As well as illustrating many of his own books, Michael has illustrated over a hundred books for authors such as Shakespeare, J. M. Barrie, the Brothers Grimm, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. Michael has travelled widely - to Africa, Japan, the Arctic Circle, China and Malaysia, the Himalayas, Siberia and New Zealand - to research his books. "I do a lot of research when I'm travelling - I find it thrilling to discover the particular 'art' of different landscapes and work them into a book. But I find I have to travel by myself, otherwise I'm constantly getting involved in other people's impressions of a place... I try to be invisible when I'm travelling, so I tend to listen in on conversations rather than participate in them - I just want to look and draw."

Reviews

[Juliana Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tufty can't keep up when his duck family flies south for the winter. He ends up on a small island in the middle of traffic and makes friends with a homeless man. The man shares his food and hollow tree with Tufty. The next spring, Tufty is reunited with his duck family and leaves the man. He meets a beautiful brown duck and the eventually returns to the island in the middle of the traffic to live with the man in the hollow tree and his beautiful brown duck.

[Julia Mcknight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see that this book got bad reviews here but I thought it was lovely. It felt like a classic picture book such as Make Way For Ducklings, but simpler and shorter. It is a story about getting lost and finding one's way; openness and discovery. The author shows readers two very different homes - a palace inhabited by royals and a hollow chestnut tree inhabited by a homeless man - as equal sources of kindness, friendship, comfort, and belonging for Tufty.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a lot of mixed emotions reading this book so be prepared for questions. Good questions but questions. Preschool and up for subject. A little duck gets separated from his flock while flying south and spends the winter living in a tree with a homeless man who shares everything with him. Great opportunity for talk about about sharing and other subjects.

[Ruth Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the book jacket: "When the ducks fly south for the winter, Tufty gets left behind. Join this brave little duck as he finds a new friend and a new home in the most unlikely place." Michael Foreman is a British author illustrator and has received the Kate Greenaway Medal twice. The watercolor illustrations here are very nice.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this little story and the illustrations too.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot was completely random, and the ending was rushed and made no sense. I just don't get it.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the illustrations (strangely enough), but the story just did not do it for me. It was longer for a picture book, which is fine, except that it left me all ???

[Jenna Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely ending

[Jabnia Toxcoyoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duck overcoming obstacles

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tufty, a little lost duck who found love.

Both the story and the ducks remind me a lot of the Babar series, both father and son. Being fond of those Babar books, to me, this seems like a good thing.

I don't understand yet why the local ducks, including Tufty, would watch the Duck and Duckess dance at grand parties. Sure, the folks in the fancy duds are a Duck (not Duke) and a Duckess (not a Duchess), but still I don't quite get it.

Golly, later I don't quite understand why Tufty would spend the winter in a hobo's hat.

Too tough for me to comprehend, I guess, by the time I arrive at the end of this book. Yes, I see how you could say this book was about a little lost duck who found love, yet the story never came together for me. Yet the illustrations are lovely, for sure.

[Jason]

huh. A bit here-n-there, weren't it? I wonder if that ever happens in real life. Could a duck survive the winter and rejoin the flock the following spring?