There are many books using the song, Five Little Ducks. What sets this version apart is the illustrations. They are very detailed and depict a Mother Duck caring for the house, doing laundry, and cooking. There are a lot of elements that a parent can talk about while reading this to their children. The text is based on counting but in reverse. It starts with five ducks and subtracts one until no ducks are left. The first time I heard it, I worried it would be a depressing end with a mom losing all her ducks. I always sing that part very sad. I was relieved when she got them all back. After each stanza, I take the time to count the ducks on the page. Eventually, we may represent the ducks with physical objects as an early introduction to subtraction.

Recommended age: 2-4 years

Writing style: The writing is clear and concise, with the main phrases repeated six times. After a few readings, a child can "read" it from memory. The focus is placed on the images rather than the text.

Lexile range (unofficial): 410L - 600L
Decoding difficulty: 2/5
Vocabulary difficulty: 1/5
Sentences difficulty: 4/5
Patterns difficulty: 1/5

Illustration style: The illustrations differentiate this book from the others using the same rhyme. Using colored pencils and pastels, Pamela Paparone shows the countryside. Mother Duck is shown doing laundry, ironing, painting, picking apples, and baking an apple pie.

Reality-based: No. Mother Duck and her babies act as humans in the illustrations. One duck even uses a fork to eat the apple pie. ( )

1. Summary- This book is about a mother duck who's ducklings go missing one by one each day that they go out to play. The mother waits and waits but they never come home. So the mother decides to go looking for them and she finds them all and brings them home with her.
2. Personal Reaction- This book showed me that your parents will always come to your rescue. When they think you can handle yourself, they will wait until they know you need their help. Also, if you and your friends ever get lost, to stay where you are and not to wander and get even more lost.
3. Classroom Extension Ideas- In the classroom, I could use this book to teach kids to stick together. Also, to teach them that they need to trust their parents and their timing.

Five little ducks go over a hill and out of their mothers sight. After the mother duck calls for them only four return. Everyday after that they go over the hill and always return with one less duckling. Finally, the last duckling does not return at the mother's call and the mother gets sad. The next day she goes over the hill to find all five of her ducks safe and sound. The last picture showed all the ducks tucked in bed and asleep.

This book had a nice rhythm and very colorful pictures. It shows beautiful sunsets and bright yellow ducks. It also allows the reader to predict what will happen next because it flows easily.In the classroom, I would use this book as examples of foreshadowing

Summary of book: Five Little Ducks is about a mother duck and her five children. The five little ducks went out to play over the hills and far away, mother duck said quack, quack, quack, quack, but only four little ducks came back home. Eventually over four more days, none of the little ducks come back, so mother duck goes over the hills and far away mother duck says quack, quack, quack and all of her little ducks come back.

Personal Reflection: When I read this story I cannot just read the words, because I just start singing them. When I was about twelve my youngest sister was around three, and she had me read this book to her over and over again. She would go around singing the “ducky song” to all of us in the house.

Extension of Book: My first idea is to make our own story about what the ducks are doing over the hills and far away that is so much fun that they didn't want to come home. My second idea is to have the children paint a picture of what our mother would look like if she was a duck. ( )

Summary: A mother duck lives in a small house with her five little ducks. Every day, the little ducks go away from home, and every day, one less comes back. When none come back, mother duck goes out to find her babies and brings them all home.

Personal Reaction: Before reading this, I'd never heard the story of the Five Little Ducks. But I've learned that a lot of children today know it rather well, as well as many people my own age and older. I liked that it's a story that spans several generations, and it's a great story for younger kids.

Classroom Extensions:
1. It could be used as an intro to subtraction. As each duck gets lost, explain that we subtracted one duck.

2. Have students write a creative story on why the ducks didn't come back, and why they came back in the end.