Truck Full of Ducks

In the oddball world of Burach's story, a dog operates a company called Truck Full of Ducks. "We deliver ducks... Anytime! Anywhere!" boasts one of several signs in the office. After one duck eats the directions to their next delivery location, the dog improvises, asking a variety of citizens the same question: "Did you call for a truck full of ducks?" Burach (Billy Bloo Is Stuck in Goo) tells his story entirely through dialogue, packing it--and his exuberant, crayon-like digital illustrations--with visual jokes and groan-worthy puns. "I called for a truck full of crackers... not quackers!" crows a pirate with a parrot. Eventually, the dog finds his destination in the "deep dark woods," where the goggle-eyed ducks file nervously into the home of a hungry-looking fox. Luckily, it turns out to be a "bathtime gig"--just another day at work. The story takes a while to build to this moment of tension, but the ducks' encounters with pirates, aliens, and others are entertaining, and Burach includes an abundance of funny details to discover in each scene. Ages 4-8. Agent: Lara Perkins, Andrea Brown Literary. (Mar.)

PreS-Gr 2--Children will love the zany cartoon drawings in this humorous story about a truck service run by Bernie the dog, who specializes in delivering ducks. The ducks on board the truck are one crazy bunch, consuming everything in sight (from donuts to pizza to a bladder-buster beverage), but when they gobble up the directions to the latest customer, Bernie is forced to head out with little guidance. They encounter a variety of individuals who ordered a truck, just not a truck full of ducks. One girl wanted a mail truck to send her brother far away while another ordered a dump truck, not a duck truck. Each individual they encounter is outlandish. Kids will snicker when Bernie is forced to give the ducks a potty break, will start to sweat when they discover that a fox deep in the dark woods has actually placed the order, and will be tickled by the twist at the end. It turns out that the fox (H. Ungry Fox) has ordered the ducks for his bath time, not for his dinner. VERDICT Children will delight in the extreme silliness of this story and will repeatedly pore over the detailed, colorful, and quirky illustrations.--Sally James, South Hillsborough Elementary School, CA