Published: 11 July 2023
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Illustrator: Alex Latimer
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ –3.5 Stars
Do you see that duck over there?I like books where the narration addresses the reader, but in a way where the author is trying to tell us about their woes. It’s like Latimer has pulled us aside and said, ‘hey, see that duck? It hasn’t blinked.’ And now we’re being pulled into their situation to help solve it.
In the same vein of the Pigeon series, I like that the story involves studying a creature. The creature in question is a duck, the most seagull looking duck you’ve ever seen, but a duck all the same. The comical design of the duck is great, and it is a design that plays well into the never blinking because despite the basic design, you can feel it staring into your soul.
It is a good book to read aloud and there are fun activities to do to help make the duck blink like shouting, telling jokes, and sad stories. Latimer uses the layout well to show the passing of time and they keep the focus on the duck with no real background or distraction.
It’s a cute story and one that is predictable in a fun way that gives satisfaction to the reader. It’s fun to watch this exasperated narrator try their best to make a duck blink and while you never find out why they need to see it, it’s great to watch them try.
You can purchase The Duck Never Blinks via the following
