Ducky by Eve Bunting and illustrated by David Wisniewski

I just loved this book! I feel like first off, I should share that it is a true story. In 1992, a crate containing 29,000 plastic bathtub toys was washed off the deck of its ship en route to Tacoma, Washington from China. The result? 29,000 plastic bathtub toys went bouncing across the ocean. This story follows one rubber duck in particular as it is tossed around in the waves, and finally lands on the shores of Alaska where he is picked up by a little boy. With the boy the rubber duck, now named Ducky, is able to fulfill his duty as a bathtub duck. I thought that this was a really cute way to inform students of something that happened, a historical event if you will. The fact that she personified the duck was perfect. What better way to tell a story to young children than through a rubber duck? I guarantee that if a rubber duck had taught me history when I was younger, I would have retained so much more :-)

Once again, the story in this book begins on the title and dedication pages. You see the crate being lowered on t the deck of the ship and then the ship heading out into the sea with storm clouds behind it. I am thinking that perhaps this is something that Eve Bunting requests of her illustrators because it seems to be a theme. Here again, it sets up a mood of anticipation for the story. In addition, the illustrations were really neat. Instead of just drawing the scenes, the artist used paper that he cut out. It's really pretty impressive.

The library recommends this book for students 4-8 and that sound about right. None of the language is too tricky and the story would be appealing to those age ranges. I would totally buy this book.