In this Caldecott Honor Book, Have You Seen My Duckling, written by Nancy Tafuri, a mother duck loses one of her ducklings in the lake. The duckling wanders off following a butterfly. Mother duck anxiously starts searching around the lake asking a bird, a turtle, a beaver, a fish, and another mother duck, but nobody has seen him. After a while she finds her duckling and begins to swim away with all of her ducklings following her. Once they are all together she is able to cuddle with them and sleep peacefully throughout the night.
With the illustrations of this book children are able to see the missing duckling throughout the pages of the book and see that he isn’t really missing. This is a good way to encourage children to participate and engage in the story. The illustration and colors are able to captivate the children.
Even though this book has a few words, children can make up their own story just by looking at the illustrations. The illustrations make it possible for children to use their imagination. The emotions throughout the book give a personality to the main character who is the mother duck looking for her duckling. Her emotions are vivid and helps the children understand how worried mother duck gets, when she is not able to find her missing duckling.
The writing style and language for the book is appropriate for preschool children. The concept of the book allows for open ended questions. In this book children are able to see enough space between the words. Being that the words are repetitive so children are able to memorize and predict what will happen next. I hope you enjoy reading this book. Remember most important of all, have FUN and make MEMORIES that will last a life time!!
