Five little ducks went off to school

‘Five little ducks went off to school’ is a delightful take on the classic ‘Five little ducks’ (which you are probably humming in your head as you read this), I would say however, a fabulously improved version!

Five little ducks all rushing off to school, but each forgetting something they needed to ‘hurry scurry’ back for, I think most children and parents can relate to forgetting something on the way to school and the stress it causes.

The illustrations by Stevie Mahardhika are vibrant, the little ducks have such detailed expressions on their faces that by the end of the book you can almost tell their personalities!

This book makes a perfect read aloud, the rhyming, ‘hurry scurry’, ‘soggy, boggy’, ‘splishy-splashy’ making it a ‘sing-song’ read even without the accompanying CD. I found myself wanting to read it in a ‘sing-song’ manner even when I tried hard not to.

I love the repetition of ‘Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack!’. This gives the reader and their audience, if reading aloud to a class, group or one on one, the chance to join in, all chorusing along together!

The CD, sung by Jay Laga’aia perfectly accompanies the book and would allow a smaller child the ability to follow along the text if they were not yet confident to read it by themselves.

A book that won’t stay on our shelves long!

Title: Five little ducks went off to school

Author: Peter Millett

Illustrator: Stevie Mahardhika

Singer (CD included): Jay Laga'aia

Publisher: Scholastic

ISBN: 978-1-77543-527-3

RRP: $19.99

Format: Paperback + CD

Date of publication: February 2019

Ages: 3+

Reviewer's name: Louana McCormack, Librarian, Opaheke School, Auckland

How highly are you recommending this book? Highly recommended

First sentence: Five little ducks went off to school, over the splishy-splashy pool, and the one little duck with a schoolbag on her back, she led the others with a quack, quack, quack!

You can buy this book here