User:Unified101/sandbox2

Description

This story, written and illustrated by Tafuri, is told in present tense from the mother duck's present tense first-person narrative and mostly through the visual illustrations.  Tafuri makes use of repeating two word patterns of only two word phrases: Have you seen my Duckling? and throughout the story. The book leads to a great interaction and engagement in groups or one-on-one by each double-page illustration. Through the use of soft and descriptive watercolor pictures, Tafuri was able to create gentle sceneries of warm nature, wildlife and animals. ^[2]The illustration support the story by depicting and arising actions not textually described. This creates, young readers to be extremely intrigued and engaged throughout the story because the illustrations are descriptive, bright and funny. ^[3]

Plot

One morning, an adventurous baby duckling wonders off from his family's nest by following a butterfly. The baby duckling's brothers and sisters tell the mother duck that the baby swam away. Immediately, the mother duck and the ducklings start a frantic search for the missing baby duckling. During the search around the pond, the mother duck and her brood visit the many habitats around the pond. First the mother asks the turtle, next the beaver, after the swan. In each scene, the missing duckling is never lost because he is visible on each side of the page, yet the rest of the animals don't see him at all. This creates a hide and seek game of finding the missing duck while the other animals are not aware of where he is. All the animals decline that they haven't seen the missing duckling. As the mother duck continues the search around the pond with the rest of the ducklings, she finally finds the missing duckling. He was swimming along the pond right behind the mother duck and the brood. As night time approached, the mother duck tucked the ducklings in her nest and sunngled dowm with them.

Critical Reception

A Parents' Choice reviewer describes the picture book has "beautifully precise, yet emotionally affecting," and but a Horn Book reviewer added that the book is "as fresh as spring—a delightful variation on a familiar theme." ^[4]Have You Seen My Duckling received many positive reviews in response to the vivid and gentle sceneries. The New York Times Book Review stated "Nancy Tafuri. . . always manages to flavor her splendid pictures with humor and interesting detail."^[5]

References