You're only ever lost until you are found! (Lucky Duck - Jonathan Shipton)

Name: kingfisher111

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Lucky Duck - Jonathan Shipton
Date:	17/04/08 (146 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lovely story and illustrations

Disadvantages: none!

Lucky Duck is a rather sweet little picture book aimed at young children and written and illustrated by Jonathan Shipton and Suzanne Diederen. It tells the story of the very strong bond one little boy has with his very special toy - a story which I am sure that most children and parents will be able to relate to.

The little boy is Lenny and the special toy is Duck. Duck is the sort of toy that does everything with Lenny - drawing, playing, even going on holiday which is sadly where it all goes wrong. On holiday, which is staying at Gran's house by the sea, they still do everything together right up until the time when they are due to go home. All of a sudden Duck has disappeared and Lenny is distraught. Even though they look everywhere they have to leave without him.

Many years pass and even though Lenny plays with lots of other toys he never forgets Duck. Then one day when he is grown up and married with a son of his own, they go back and visit Gran. Lenny's little boy goes off exploring and lo and behold! he finds Duck in the attic, a little more dusty and dirty but nevertheless, Lenny's same duck. The last couple of pages finish off the story beautifully with these words:

And that's what happens with some lucky ducks.
They get lost ...
And squashed ...
and left behind, but one day....
..they find their boy!

I always think this is so sweet at the end and also as well it makes you realise the significance of the title. All the way through you may be thinking that the duck is not so lucky, but then with such a lovely ending, you can see why he is a 'Lucky Duck' after all!

There are a couple of things that I particularly like about this story. Firstly, at the beginning, we learn that the duck is so special because it was given to Lenny by his dad. This is good, because, so often in this type of story, the special relationship is between the mum and the child. Also, I like the way there is such a strong bond between the child and the toy. Both my daughters have toys that they love so much that you would almost think they were real and that is just like it is with Lenny and his duck! Also though, our toys often get taken out all over the place, and sometimes they get lost too! I forever seem to be warning the girls about this, and now, having read 'Lucky Duck', I can remind them of what happened to Lenny and his duck, and often that is enough to help them decide that it's probably a better idea to leave theirs at home!

It's a very straightforward little story but one that I feel is very meaningful to young children. Every page has just a small amount of text and that is always accompanied by some beautiful illustrations. These are all very gentle and tranquil with soft colours which gives a bit of an old fashioned feel to the book. The language is very accessible too, and it's the sort of book that once children have read a few times, they can easily start retelling the story back to you.nd at the moment can be bought on Amazon for only

Overall we really like this book and recommend it for children up to the ages of about five or six. It is published by MacMillan and at the moment can be bought on Amazon for £4.99

Summary: A good story to share with youg children