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Quack!
A lively, lilting text by Phyllis Root links with luminous collages by Holly Meade create a board book perfect for reading aloud to the preschool crowd.
When a master of the rhythmic read-aloud joins a Caldecott honor-winning artist to visit baby animals, the result is sure to have little listeners clamoring for more. With a lilting text and luminous collage illustrations, QUACK! shows Mama Duck heralding the hatching of five peeping, waddling, flapping, nibbling ducklings — splish, splosh, splash!
When a master of the rhythmic read-aloud joins a Caldecott honor-winning artist to visit baby animals, the result is sure to have little listeners clamoring for more. With a lilting text and luminous collage illustrations, QUACK! shows Mama Duck heralding the hatching of five peeping, waddling, flapping, nibbling ducklings — splish, splosh, splash!
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
16 pages, Board Book
First published February 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis Root
107 books71 followers"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."
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."
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 3, 2015
Last year's summer reading prize is great for the 2yo this year! Lovely illustrations and a simple story show the hatching of baby ducklings who follow the mother duck for a swim.
February 1, 2018
This brightly colored board book by Phyllis Root is a sweet story about baby ducks as they look for a place to splish and splash. This simple, cute story will appeal to children from 2-4 years old and is certain to become a favorite read-aloud!
July 14, 2023
Yes it is just a board book, but it is a good one. The text is an appropriate length with plenty of action words with rhyming tones. And Holly Meade has done the collage illustrations and the Mama Duck is very expressive.
July 4, 2022
Age 1-2
July 21, 2025
Simple and lovely.
February 8, 2017
Filled with descriptive words of what the ducklings are doing from the time they crack out of their shells to the time they splash into the river.
May 13, 2009
The graphics in this board book just pop! And what a perfect accompaniment they make to the bouncy rhyming fun of the text. This is going to be the very first book I read to my nephew when I meet him this weekend, and I'm so excited about it!
May 4, 2010
Your other Easter book.
March 2, 2011
We read this at Kmart this morning as part of their Easter display. It was a cute book about ducklings that focused on the sounds they make beyond quacking including splashing and wing flapping.
September 19, 2016
My son loves this book!
November 18, 2013
4* art
3* rhyme
3* rhyme
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews