Hare, John. Duck, Duck, Goose! John Hare, Illus. Greenwillow, 09/2024. [32]pp. Picture Book. Trade $19.99. 978-0-06-309323-2. GRADES Preschool–2. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
While flying south for the winter, two ducks and a goose encounter a moose (in a flying machine) who joins them on their journey. Later, the birds face some tense situations, including riding on top of a train’s caboose. The very brief rhyming text, sometimes one word per page, has repetition that will engage a storytime audience. The artwork is essential to the success of the book, expanding on the brief text with more details, and the animals have hilarious facial expressions. The illustrations were created from pencil sketches that were digitally colored, giving the impression of full-color gouache cartoon artwork. Due to the simple rhyming vocabulary, this also works for emergent readers who can sound out the text.
Penny Peck—San José State University iSchool