When offered the chance to review The Duck Song by Bryant Oden, I accepted because my nephews (not quite 3 and almost 5) love books, and they are always appreciative when I bring them something new. The book looked cute, and fun, so I was pretty excited when I got my copy. I didn't know that it had originally been a bit of a big deal on youtube.
Once I got my copy, I read through it once and then brought it to my sister's to read with my nephews. I was quite pleased with the book. The words are repetitive and move well, making it interesting for kids to listen too and the illustrations (which I understand were done by someone around 14) are bright and easy for kids to understand are something they will enjoy looking at.
My nephews are at the stage right now where they are a little bit indignant if you try to read them the same one more than once. When I try, I get an exasperated, "We've already read that one Ash. We need a new one. Get us, umm, nine!" It's about the same with the bed time stories. They need long periods between readings. So, imagine my surprise when I finish reading this one and get an immediate, "Read it to me again Ashley." That's pretty impressive, coming from two kids under 5.
The only thing that saved me from a third read through was the CD that came with the book. It has 12 kid friendly tracks on it, including 'The Duck Song'. The whole story is a song. It was a song and a youtube video before it was published as a book, and apparently pretty popular on youtube. It's a fun song to listen to, especially if you have kids, but I'm going to warn you — It has a really catchy tune and the story is simple enough you'll probably pick it up after one or two read/sing throughs, and it's really hard to get out of your head once it's there.:)
Included with the book was information on the condition of the finished copies. Apparently, they sing to you! I think it's a great way to make the book fun for kids, especially as a way to begin reading. The lyrics to the song are almost exactly what's printed (with the addition of a few waddles here and there) and kids can 'read' along with the book as it sings to them. How great is that?!
So, got any grapes?
*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.