Librio Library 22 – The Duck Who Didn’t Like Water – Steve Small
2 minute readWhy we chose The Duck Who Didn’t Like Water
Ironically, it was just as the April weather we were having, went a little bit crazier and a bit more showery than normal, that we came across this wonderful book from Steve Small.
In the first few pages, the main characters already had us chuckling with their charm and humour. So much so that it almost made us forget about the miserable weather outside.
The main character in the story is a duck. She doesn’t like water at all and spends all of her time at home; preferably curled up with a nice book.
One night, thanks to a raging storm outside, Duck’s roof starts leaking (Shock horror!) and it all properly gets going when, at her door, she finds a very lost, very much water-loving Frog.
Being the kind of duck that she is, she takes Frog in and, together, they try to figure out where Frog’s home is. During this time, they get to know each other much better and out of this their friendship grows.
When Frog finally goes home, Duck feels very sad and alone and it occurs to her that she must get Frog back, even if it means facing her ‘fears’ and trudging through rain and storm. Will she succeed?
Favourite image
The fact that Steve Small has worked for animated films for more than 30 years is very evident in this book. His drawings are full of character and the little details here and there lend themselves to the humour of the story wonderfully and really put you in a positive mood.
Our favourite image shows both Duck and Frog as they’re on the hunt for Frog’s house. The way Duck is depicted, paddling the boat through the pond whilst Frog stands on her head hunting for his house is marvellously done and made us smile.
What kids like
The plot is both simple, yet also exciting. Will Frog find his home? And will Duck overcome her fear of water as she trudges through the storm to find her friend? It is both somewhat comical, yet also endearing and entertaining in equal measure.
Parents will like
With Duck’s slightly unusual personality and little Frog’s energetic, water-loving nature combined it makes for a very comforting, cheering story. It almost (almost!) makes you wish it was raining outside, so that you could grab a hot chocolate, snuggle under a warm, cosy blanket and read the story with your little ones.
The main theme in this story is friendship. This is also the main focus of our book ‘A Tale of Two’. If you are interested in finding out more about how the making of this particular book of ours came about, you can find that here.
If you would enjoy reading more from Steve Small we can recommend his debut story-book, ‘I’m Sticking With You’.