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Guji Guji
by Chih-Yuan Chen
Reviewed by Marta Ferguson, Homeschool Kid Lit
My three-year-old keeps asking for the book with the "Crocodile Duck" and that would be Guji Guji. Chen
begins with a familiar premise in Guji Guji and gives it a new spin.
Mother Duck is sitting on her nest when a strange egg rolls into it. As Mother Duck is busy reading a book at the time(!),
she doesn't notice the addition. When the eggs hatch, one of them is not like others, but that doesn't keep Mother Duck
from loving him as her own. With his duck siblings, Guji Guji learns to swim, dive, and waddle.
Then one day, crocodiles appear and try to convince Guji Guji that he is one of them. But unlike the ugly duckling who's
delighted to take off with his pretty swan family, Guji Guji has enjoyed his life as a duck and is skeptical about joining
the crocodiles. He gets even more concerned when the crocs ask him to bring his duck family along to the bridge the next
day.
Guji Guji's clever solution is sure to get kid laughs, as is his contentment with his status as a "crocoduck." For my
part, I found the divide between "good ducks" and "bad crocodiles" somewhat severe, but my daughter was unbothered.
The book's illustrations are clear and appealing, though its color palette is unusually dark for an early-grade picture
book. While the prevalence of browns, grays, and blacks seems somewhat at odds with the book's generally cheerful outlook,
the more somber colors do seem to have a somewhat calming effect, a nice bonus when using it as a bedtime story.
Hurry! Hurry!
by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Jeff Mack
Reviewed by Jill Chesler
Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting is a delightful picture book appropriate for preschoolers and kindergarteners. The setting
is a barnyard where all the animals are very excited about going somewhere in a hurry. They encourage each other with one
word commands and responses: "Hurry! Hurry!", "Coming! Coming!", "Faster! Faster!", "Yes! Yes!", until at the end of the
book they reach the barn where a chick is hatching. All the animals are there to welcome it to the world, and on the last
page the hen, rooster, and baby chick are pictured as a happy new family.
The painted illustrations by Jeff Mack are wonderful; textural, colorful, and realistic. Young children will easily
recognize them and can be encouraged to guess what the familiar animals are saying to each other and to comment on what
else they see in the pictures.
Guji Guji, by Chih-Yuan Chen. Kane/Miller, 2004. ISBN: 1-9291-3267-0.
Hurry! Hurry!, by Eve Bunting. Harcourt Children's Books, 2007. ISBN: 0-1520-5410-3.
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