Written by Meg McKinlay
Illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom

Walker Books Australia, 2018;  Candlewick Press, US, 2019
Ages 4+

A delightfully duckish tale of farmyard disaster.

It’s a quiet day on the farm until Duck arrives. When he starts calling out “DUCK!”, the other animals think he’s just being rude. “You can’t just run around yelling out your name!” they grumble.

But what if that’s not what Duck means at all? Perhaps ignoring him could have unexpected consequences …

This hilarious picture book begs reading aloud and active participation.

What Readers Are Saying:

“… delightful … young readers will be itching to see if their predictions come true … A perfect farmyard addition to a long line of joke books such as Jon Klassens’ ‘Hat’ trilogy and Aaron Blabey’s ‘Pig the Pug'” [4.5 star review]
– Books + Publishing

“A brilliant read aloud for engaging preschool children with plenty of learning and discussion opportunities. This book will definitely get their attention!”
–  The Boomerang Books Blog

Awards

Notable Book, 2019 CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Early Childhood

Resources

Download classroom ideas (may be downloaded/printed for regular classroom use only)

Behind the Story

This little book grew from the intersection of a few different things:

Firstly, my love of ducks. Ducks are always on my mind – partly because I grew up with a love of Leunig and his whimsical Mr Curly; partly because I live around the corner from a large park and often wake up to find ducks on my doorstep looking as if they have something they want to tell me; and partly because ducks are plain and simply glorious.

Secondly, the fact that I was working on a book about Skylab, about the prospect of something falling from the sky to quite possibly land on your head.

Thirdly, because I love wordplay and after reading an article with the headline “Only 20 Minutes to Duck Skylab”, it occurred to me that the duck/duck homonyms were ripe with potential.

Fourthly and finally but probably most importantly, because I remember very clearly what it felt like to be a small person with lots to say but not always someone willing to really listen. I suspect this is something common to most kids and I try to be on their side as much as I possibly can. I was really happy to be able to sneak that little bit of propaganda into my dedication at the back of the book.