Ducks Run Amok! by J. E. Morris (review)

A flock of ducks takes over a pond already occupied by a dismayed turtle as the text conveys their actions in rhyming couplets: "They stop their flight/ to take a swim./ Soon the pond's/ full to the brim." As more ducks join the pond, a band plays, and the narrator includes the turtle as "green duck," to the turtle's protests in speech bubbles: "I am not a duck!" When a food truck pulls up with pies and cakes, the ducks start a food fight, and the turtle finally asserts itself. The ducks clean up and peel out, leaving the turtle alone, only for a school bus full of children to arrive on a field trip ("I need to find another pond," the turtle says ruefully). This silly readaloud gains much of its hilarity from the contrast between the soft cadence of the narrator's rhymes and the turtle's protestations. Clean digital art effectively highlights the turtle's expressive face with eyebrows, big eyes, and body language contrasted with the sameness of the beady-eyed, long-necked ducks who take over in droves. Viewers old enough to appreciate the irony of the storytelling technique are guaranteed a good laugh out of this one.