Farmer duck /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Farmer Duck is no ordinary duck--and this is no ordinary picture book. A glorious and utterly satisfying modern fable illustrated with that special blend of humor and pathos unique to bestselling artist Helen Oxenbury. Full color.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

A poor duck is overworked by a lazy farmer‘until the duck's farm friends mete out their own brand of barnyard justice. "Young readers will flap for joy right along with the endearing web-footed hero," said PW in a starred review. Ages 3-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 2-- Waddell's waddler is a real winner. In all kinds of weather, this downtrodden duck hauls in the sheep, tends the hens, and does the housework as well. ```How goes the work?''' the farmer repeatedly asks. ```Quack,''' the duck constantly replies--until all the barnyard animals convene to help the exhausted servant exact revenge and oust the lazy lout. Hilarious art masterfully captures the expressions of the put-upon duck, the supportive cast, and the slovenly ergophobic who reads the newspaper and chomps on bonbons in bed. All the while, the use of subtle shading and light reflect the passing of time on the farm and the serenity of the English countryside. Bled double-page spreads burst with life and vitality in a tale that has undertones of Animal Farm and The Bremen Town Musicians . With its lilting, large-print text and satisying resolution, it's as perfect for beginning readers as it is for story hours. --Trev Jones, School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

/*STARRED REVIEW*/ Ages 4-6. Farmer duck has it hard because his owner takes it so easy. While the duck is out hoeing, ironing, and collecting the eggs, the farmer is in bed stuffing his face with bonbons, reading the tabloids, and occasionally calling out, "How goes the work?" to which the duck replies with a weary, "Quack." One day, the duck grows so weepy and sleepy and tired that the cows, hens, and sheep decide in true Animal Farm fashion to take matters into their own hands. They roust the farmer out of his bed and chase him down the lanes, through the fields until he disappears. The next day, the duck begins his round of chores once more, but instead of hearing "How goes the work?" he learns from his friends what has transpired--then it's their turn to run the farm. Though the story is simple, it is chock-full of child-appealing elements. The animals "baa" and "moo" and "cluck" with vigor, which will engender the same response from kids. Listeners will also like the poetic justice of the ending. But best of all is Oxenbury's ebullient artwork. Drawing abundantly on two-page spreads, she offers sly watercolors that capture all the humor. Especially wonderful are her depictions of the fat slob of a farmer, reeking of laziness, and the worn-down duck who comes out on top. (Reviewed Apr. 1, 1992)1564020096Ilene Cooper

Horn Book Review

A poor duck has to do all the work on the farm while the fat farmer lazes his days away in bed. The other animals take pity on her, and together they oust the farmer and live in peace and harmony thereafter. Oxenbury's gentle illustrations of the oafish farmer, the visibly wilting duck, and the pastoral views are just right for the quiet story. From HORN BOOK 1992, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

A faithful duck labors while the indolent farmer lazes in bed, eating candy and occasionally inquiring, ``How goes the work?''--to which the duck replies, ``Quack!'' When the duck grows ``sleepy and weepy and tired,'' the other animals hatch a plan, succinctly expressed: ``Moo!'' ``Baa!'' ``Cluck!'' They enter the house, climb the stairs, tip the sleeping farmer out of his bed and chase him away forever. Come morning, the duck arrives to slave alone as usual but finds the other animals eager to pitch in. The sanctimonious moral of ``The Little Red Hen'' gets a salutary restructuring here, with the focus on the duck's uncomplaining toil and the other animals' generosity. Waddell's narration is a marvel of simplicity and compact grace; Oxenbury's soft pencil and watercolor illustrations have the comic impact of masterly cartoons, while her sweeping color and light are gloriously evocative of the English farm scene. Like Waddell's Can't You Sleep Little Bear? (p. 58): a book with all the marks of a nursery classic. (Picture book. 2-7)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Martin Waddell was born April 10, 1941, in Belfast, Ireland. He always wanted to be a professional soccer player. After having played for junior teams in Ireland, he left school at fifteen and held a variety of jobs, including working at a publishing company and as a night switchboard operator for a taxi company.

Waddell is now one of the most prolific and successful contemporary children's writers, with more than one hundred books to his credit, some of them under his pseudonym Catherine Sefton.

He won the 1986 Other Award, for his book Starry Night, which was also a runner up for The Guardian Children¿s Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the Young Observer Teenage Fiction Prize. He has twice won the Smarties Book Prize, for Farmer Duck and Can't You Sleep Little Bear? He also won the 1989 Kurt Mascher Award for The Park In The Dark, the 1990 Bets Book For Babies for Rosie¿s Babies and has been shortlisted for the 1992 Smarties Book Prize for Along The Lonely Road.

(Bowker Author Biography)