Poor Clumsy Duck! She’s always stumbling, tripping, or falling over her huge webbed feet.

I really enjoyed the book “Clumsy Duck,” by Britta Teckentrup. The characters were adorable and encouraging, the illustrations were bright and colorful, and the overall message was appropriate for children. There were only two characters in this book, Duck and Chick. I liked that they were not given specific names, because they did not need them for the purpose of this story. The Chick was my favorite character. Chick was a supportive and encouraging friend to the clumsy duck. The storyline follows Chick trying to find things that Duck can do despite her clumsiness. For example, on one page, Chick was trying to get Duck to perch on a branch saying “‘Your big feet might be good for perching on a branch,’ said Chick…Clumsy Duck jumped up too. But her feet couldn’t get a grip… ‘Never mind,’ said Chick. ‘Let’s try something else.” Finally, the Duck had a chance to swim and Chick validated his friend. He told Duck, “If I could swim like you, I wouldn’t mind being clumsy on land.” I fell in love with Chick because of this line. Another thing that I enjoyed about this book was the illustrations. The color pallet was bright and diverse, and took up entire pages. The way the pictures were illustrated was similar to the style of Eric Carle books, but instead of oil paints cut out, the paint looked as if it was created with a sponge. Finally, the overall message of the book was that everyone is good at something, and to accept yourself as you are; because, who you are is impressive. ( )