Guess Who, Baby Duck! - Hardcover

Amy Hest is the award-winning author of more than twenty books for young readers, including the much-loved Baby Duck series. Among her other acclaimed picture books are Don't You Feel Well, Sam?, You Can Do it, Sam, and Kiss Good Night, all illustrated by Anita Jeram, and When Jessie Came Across The Sea, illustrated by P.J. Lynch.

Jill Barton has collaborated with Amy Hest on all the Baby Duck books, including In the Rain with Baby Duck, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. She also illustrated the rollicking Rattletrap Car and What Baby Wants, both by Phyllis Root, as well as Lady Lollipop and Clever Lollipop by Dick King-Smith. Jill Barton lives in England.

PreSchool-K-Baby Duck has a cold and Grampa comes to visit, bringing a "cheering-up present," an album of her baby photos. Together they look at pictures of her on the day she was born, after her first bath, taking her first steps, and on her first birthday. She feels better and draws a picture of Grampa kissing her cheek, which is just what he does. This tale beautifully taps into the heart of all the "Baby Duck" books, the youngster's special relationship with her loving grandfather. The text here is simpler than in the earlier offerings, and includes repeated refrains that will hold the interest of young children. Barton's watercolor-and-pencil art is as warm and playful as Baby Duck herself. Many of the pages resemble those of a scrapbook, with "photos" of the duckling and her family set against textured pastel backgrounds; Grampa and Baby's reactions to them are depicted on facing pages. Children will love this "cheering-up present" from Barton and Hest.
Rachel G. Payne, New York Public Library
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