Funny book about kindness and appreciating what we have. ( )

This book tells the story of a duck named Max. Although he had his quirks, he learned quickly how to live in the house with Irene and all of the animals friends. At first, the other animals got tired of Max and his ways of living, but once he heard his flock return they all missed him dearly. This was a very cute story on how to accept people even if you do not like the things they do sometimes. ( )

I enjoyed this book for two reasons. First, the illustrations allow the reader to understand how each character was feeling despite most of the characters’ lack of dialogue in the text. The illustrator allowed the audience to see the characters’ emotions based on their facial expressions. This was especially evident when Max, the duck, left the house for the spring. The other animals missed him greatly. I was able to pick up on this by the illustrator’s ability to show this through the animals’ sad faces. I also enjoyed this book because of the writing style. The author was able to make the story flow nicely by describing what Max learned each month. The plot flowed chronologically because the author broke it down by month. She wrote, “In January he learned to use the remote control. In February he discovered he had a flair for cooking.” This makes it simple for the readers to understand how Max’s character developed throughout the story. Another aspect of the writing that I liked was the author’s emphasis of certain words. She emphasized various words by writing them in all uppercase letters. For example, when Max first came into the house he said, “I thought I’d love winter too. But It turned out to be COLD and very lonely.” Since the word “cold” was in uppercase letters, I was able to emphasize it in my reading and understand how Max may have felt. Overall, the main idea of this story is to try to be patient and understanding of people because even If they annoy you, you may realize that you miss them when they are gone. This is evident when Max goes back to his flock of ducks for the spring. All of the animals started to get annoyed with Max before he left and then quickly realized how much they missed him after he was gone. ( )

"TThe Duck at the Door” is a good children’s book. The duck, named Max, doesn’t migrate south for the winter and stays behind in the cold. The illustrations in the book are very well done and even go beyond the text. For example, the book says “At first Max had a lot to learn” but the pictures show Max looking at a telephone, drinking out of a cup, and reading. The book also has a good moral. The other pets welcome Max, a different kind of animal, into the house. The pets also find a good solution to deal with the problem of Max getting annoying by going to talk to the owner in the house. A final reason I liked this book was because it was funny and entertaining. Most children know a duck can’t watch TV, drink out of a glass, or make food so it was funny to see drawings of it. The ending is also funny, just as the pets begin to miss Max, he shows up again – and brings his entire flock. It is a light, fun story that is entertaining.

Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic is a children's picture book. This is a fun and simple story about migration. Max the duck wanted to see what it would like to stay in the North for the winter. To his surprise, it was cold and lonely until he stumble on Irene and all of her animal friends. They taught Max a few things and Max ran with it. He always kept things lively and his friends on their toes. When Max leaves to be with his flock again, they realize that they really do love Max and al of his crazy adventures. This book would be great to use in the classroom with younger students. You could take this story and talk about many different lessons that range from migration to friendship. This would in my opinion is a great story. I interrupted this story as sometimes when we invite others who are not usually in our world it can be a mix of emotions, but in the end you learn and love the lessons that come with the new experiences. The illustrations n this story are colorful with a water/color pencil feel. Very kid friendly and fun. ( )