Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 11/15/2019 A happy duck watches as her three eggs hatch. Soon the ducklings are following their mother down to the water for their first swim. She dives off a ledge, followed by the first two ducklings (“SPLISH! SPLISH!”), who swim, and the third one (“SPLASH”), who sinks. “Wait. What? Let’s try that again,” says the narrator. So the intrepid little duckling tries again and sinks again—twice. The duckling tries water wings (too big), scuba gear (too scary), a Jet Ski (way too scary), and other ingenious schemes before finding the perfect, pirate-themed solution. In the artwork, expressive black-and-white lines, along with shades of blue-green, yellow, and orange, create the characters and suggest the settings. Positioning words creatively within the illustrations and using rhyme when things are moving along smoothly, Harney’s satisfying text reads aloud beautifully. Both the words and the digital illustrations create a jaunty tone while setting up viewers’ expectations, only to surprise them yet again. Fun to share, this picture book will amuse kids and leave everyone smiling. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 12/01/2019 PreS-Gr 1—Three tiny eggs crack open to the rhythmic "Quack" of three little ducks. "Three tiny ducks in one straight line. New, happy flock. All feeling fine." But all is not fine when the ducklings follow their Mama into the water; the last little one sinks (not swims) once…twice…again and again. "All of this sinking is ruining the rhyme." Not to worry—the determined little one begins a series of experiments to test for duckling flotation through a variety of possibilities: a running start, water wings, enlisting the help of other pond creatures, "state-of-the-art scuba gear," stilts, and even a rip-roaring, out-of-control Jet Ski. Digital cartoon art reveals the terrified onlookers, while enlarged font and onomatopoeia put readers in the middle of the action through each failed attempt—until Duckling #3 can find a solution with a clever bit of thinking (and still save the rhyme). VERDICT Children will come up with their own suggestions and solutions for a happy duckling ending in this suggested general purchase for all libraries.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.