Duck & company

Gr 1-3-Duck and Rat have been running their bookstore for many years and they work hard to find the right selections for their customers. Using simple vocabulary and short chapters, this easy reader tells about a busy day at Duck & Company. In the first episode, Rat sees Cat approaching the door and hides under the desk. Cat asks for a title on how to cook rats, but Duck convinces him that carrots would be healthier. In another chapter, Badger is not satisfied with any of the joke books Duck suggests, but gets a good laugh when Duck accidentally falls into the trash can. The shoppers bring humorous situations to the story as Rat and Duck eagerly try to help them. Charming illustrations done in pen, ink, and gouache echo the text's humor and draw in even the most reluctant readers.-Erika Qualls, Ela Area Public Library District, Lake Zurich, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Duck and Rat co-own a bookstore, and this easy reader's five chapters offer a charming glimpse into the highs and lows of their workaday life. When Cat comes in looking for "a book that tells how to cook rats," Rat hides. Enterprising Duck sells him a book on carrots, which are sure to make his fur shine. Mother Hen squeaks in with a pram full of eggs, leaving with the boredom-busting Terror Tales to Make Your Feathers Pop Out. Caple's ink-and-gouache pictures furnish funny, easily interpreted scenes of retail life, including a stampede of little critters arriving for the forgotten story hour. ("Don't worry," Rat assures Duck. "You can wing it.") Kids might envy these entrepreneurs: Each gets to take the brand-new title in the "Cliff-Hanger" series home to read. So what if the bleary pair sleeps through the following day without selling a thing? Time does whiz by "when you're doing what you love." Snap this one up--it's sure to fly off the shelves. (Early reader. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.