Lucky Duck
Review posted May 1, 2024.
Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. 40 pages.
Review written April 30, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
Lucky Duck has the feel of a classic picture with elements from the beginning that are important in the end. And it shows that luck is all in your perspective.
As the book opens, Susan Duck is complaining about her bad luck because the skates she ordered are two sizes too big.
But then a wolf comes to her door in a tuxedo proclaiming that it's her lucky day! She's won a big, shiny, new soup pot!
This gets Susan feeling lucky for a few hours - until her kitchen light bulb burns out. But then the wolf comes by and says she's won lots of onions - perfect for making soup!
And so it continues. Susan Duck has a set of banal little things go wrong, making her feel unlucky. But after each one, the wolf comes by with another "prize" - which happen to be ingredients for soup.
The astute reader will figure out where this is going. But when the wolf declares himself ready for duck soup - suddenly each one of the things that went wrong works together to thwart the wolf in silly but effective ways.
And Susan Duck ends the day feeling lucky indeed.
This is the sort of picture book that makes me miss doing preschool storytimes. I can just hear the kids shouting warnings as I read it. Any kid who has this read to them is lucky indeed.