Tatty Duck Grown Up by Juliet Deacock

A Rich Variety

Tatty Duck Grown Up by Juliet Deacock is a beautiful children’s book for the under fives. The story is based on a real-life duckling who was found orphaned on a pond. We see her photo on the reverse of the book.

The tale is written in rhyme. This bounce along pattern enables our children to help remember the words, to be able to predict what is coming next and to join in, after several read throughs.

I really loved the inclusion of a map at the start, showing the place where Tatty Duck lives. There is such a lot of detail which will be wonderful to look at with our children and to provide talking points – such as, which house would you like to live in? Is that your paddling pool? Who lives in an old hen hut?

All the book is beautifully illustrated. A rich variety of wildlife is shown which can teach our children about what we may see on river walks. All the wildlife looks very friendly, with the exception of the swans!

A page at the end of the book shows six of Tatty’s friends and asks if you can find them in the book, giving our children a chance to recap the story.

Nature can be cruel. I did find the inclusion of a swan’s activity a bit disturbing. I think I will skip over that page when showing my two year old granddaughters but older readers may be okay with the realism.

However, the over-riding message of the book is love and care. Our friends will come to the rescue when needed and will cheer on our successes.

Tatty Duck Grown Up is a beautiful addition to any young library.

I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON

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