A Paddling of Ducks

Starred review from March 8, 2010
This ABC book provides a delightfully offbeat introduction to collective nouns, featuring groups of animals at a Riviera-like resort locale with palm trees and a seaside Ferris wheel. An “army of Ants” closes in on an anteater's doughnuts (he's too busy with his laptop and coffee to notice), while a “bloat of Hippos” work out on exercise bikes. Even better than learning some of the unusual ways to refer to multiple animals is the way Kelly's soft-focus oil and acrylic paintings riff on the terms themselves. Thus, a “gang of Elk” and “skulk of Foxes” look appropriately rowdy, and a “labor of Moles” in hardhats are seen doing excavation work. The anthropomorphic animals feel anatomically authentic, but with exaggerated joie de vivre to spare. Ages 4–7.

May 1, 2010
K-Gr 2-In this simple ABC book, each letter is represented by a group of animals and the collective noun associated with them. For example, A is for "an army of ants" has an illustration of many ants eating an aardvark's doughnut. The illustrations of the various creatures are vivid and detailed. The crocodiles sport sun bonnets and sunglasses, the "skulk of foxes" wears T-shirts and jewelry, the band of gorillas wears costumes and plays various instruments, and the troop of uakaris feasts on popsicles. Attractive, but additional."Katie Cerasale-Messina, AC Whelan Elementary School, Revere, MA"

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