The Case Of The Missing Duckie

by Linda Hayward

When Ernie goes into the bathroom for his birthday bath, his Rubber Duckie is missing, but detective Sherlock Hemlock comes to his aid.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Linda was born in California’s Central Valley, but raised and schooled in south Alabama, during the turbulent 1960’s. Married to her high school sweetheart, she and Tom have two grandchildren, Georgia and Joshua, who give her plenty of ideas for writing children’s stories.

Her first book in the series, “Marshall Visit’s the Hospital,” Marshall leads children around a sometimes scary world, showing them there’s nothing to be afraid of in instances of doctor visits or the possibilities of staying in a hospital. In subsequent books, Marshall will show there are responsibilities to be met as a contributor to the family: caring for pets, helping others, volunteering one’s time, and even accepting a new baby into the household. It is hoped that Marshall will teach children about their world in a fun and entertaining way. The reality is, they may at sometime need to protect themselves against strangers and bullies. Marshall is here to help build their self-confidence and not make them afraid to stand up for themselves.

Marshall, will also teach the importance of staying healthy and seeing the fun in fitness.

It is Linda’s hope that children from the ages three to eight can relate and benefit from Marshall and his friend’s experiences.

Her first in a series, MARSHALL VISITS the HOSPITAL, was published and released in October 2008. Linda has worked in childcare development and has been a teacher’s assistant to first graders. She has written several short stories, for Ben Romero’s book, CHICKEN FLUFF AND OTHER STUFF, and for author, Janice Stevens’ anthology, STORIES OF SERVICE. She is currently working on a history project for the Clovis Unified School District, to be published and released in 2009.

Reviews

[Dave Goodrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler below

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It was cookie monster!

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

From kid's lit author Linda Hayward comes AN ELECTRIFYING SESAME STREET THRILLER!!!....Okay, that was kinda overdone. But it does feature Ernie, Cookie, and the renowned detective skills of Sherlock Hemlock. (Whoever renowned that dude's skills was high at the time so we must forgive them) Ernie's best friend besides his love-buddy Bert is his rubber ducky. (Five decades and Ern still hasn't let go of that duck. He's sooo co-duck-pendent!) But on the day of his birthday (he turns 9 on his 51st bday, can you imagine?) his duck is missing, innocently taken by Cookie Monster, and now Hemlock is hired to track the rubber plant, no, rubber stamp, no, rubber something!!! Poor Hemlock though doesn't quite grasp the seriousness of the crime, and in fact his first deduction is...."Egad! Ernie, your clothes are what's missing!" (Well one, Ernie was getting out of the bathtub, two, he's got a towel on, and three, his missing clothes are for Bert to notice! LoL!) The duck must be found before Ernie's birthday party begins at 2pm, and time is running out! A funny almost satiric play on mysteries like Scooby Doo and Captain Caveman. Hayward scores!
Three stars
Sherlock Hemlock does it for kids at ELEMENTARY!!

[Mariya Dawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a sesame street book, the main character in it is Ernie. He wants to take a bath with his rubber duckie who is his best friend, and it is also his birthday. He gets a phone call from Big Bird and the cookie monster steals his rubber duckie. He calls Sherlock Hemlock to help him find the rubber duckie, but it later turns out the reason the cookie monster took it was to put it on top of the birthday cake he made for him. Him and his friends then celebrate his birthday.

[Jacklynn Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timeless. In the early 90s this was my favorite book. Now in 2025 my niece thinks it’s hilarious.

[Kip Arney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess when you're two years old, the author doesn't seem to mind little details. The Case of the Missing Rubber Duckie is a short book written by Sesame Street and takes place on Ernie's birthday when OH NO...he loses his Rubber Duckie. In the beginning, Ernie is about to take a bath and places his duckie on a stool but then leaves the room. When he comes back, the duckie is gone. As a child I didn't pick up on this, but now, 20 some odd years later, I realized this would be considered burglary. I felt this story was too childish. The detective, Sherlock Hemlock, was a bumbling idiot who kept miss pronouncing things and saying he found what he was looking for and it would be something completely the opposite of the duckie. If Ernie wasn't so attached with his rubber duckie, he would've gotten mad and thrown Hemlock out. The story is a picture book and they say a picture speaks a thousand words so when you see Cookie Monster take the duckie but there being no mention of that in the text, you know right away what happened. Cookie Monster was in the kitchen making a cake the whole time that Hemlock was in the house and yet no one ever looked in the kitchen?

I remember reading this as a kid. Or should I say reading along, because the book is accompanied with a record. Unfortunately I don't have a record player in my possession, but engraved in my mind is the very moment Ernie realized the duckie was missing and the most horrible sound was played which made me sad. But in the end, like everything on Sesame Street, it was a happy ending.

[D'Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book cracks my five-year-old son right up. I like reading it to him as a result.

[Daniel Currie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Case of the Missing Duckie" is pretty damn good.