  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 03/15/2017 *Starred Review* When a flock of ducks descends on a quiet pond, their raucous calls startle the other animals, who scatter. The turtle dives into the water, while the frog leaps off his lily pad, and the heron flies to her nest. A boy observes the scene, watching as the ducks move on, the rippling waters go still again, and the other animals return. As he walks homeward, “An understanding quickly dawned: / We’d shared a shock, and now a bond. / And I was feeling very fond, / Of everyone on old Duck Pond.” Written with simplicity and subtle sensory cues, Yolen’s extended poem establishes a strong sense of place as well as a mood that shifts with the arrival and departure of the ducks. An expressive painter, Marstall contributes a series of scenes that define the landscape and its inhabitants with subtlety, grace, and humor. Even after the animals have scattered to hide, a few are visible in the illustrations for children to find. A sequel to Yolen and Marstall’s On Bird Hill (2016), this picture book reflects a solid understanding of the natural world. Both the words and the illustrations are well crafted, but together they become something more: a beautiful picture book that is unexpectedly moving. - Copyright 2017 Booklist. School Library Journal - 05/01/2017 K-Gr 2—This sequel to On Bird Hill celebrates the wildlife of a New England pond. When a rowdy raft of ducks drop in, creatures from turtles to heron to tadpoles rouse from drowsy bliss. The disrupters' equally sudden departure brings the gradual return of deer, a raccoon, and a redwing blackbird as well as the reemergence of the water denizens. Colorful spreads accommodate Yolen's rhymes: "A frog leaped off his lily pad, quite surprised and very mad." Marstall's realistic paintings embrace nature's greens, blues, browns, and yellows. The book concludes with notes on pond habitats, a description of the Cornell Lab's work with birds, and a picture dictionary of pond-loving birds and ducks. VERDICT Use this breezy visit to a pond for Earth Day celebrations or as a literary field trip on a rainy day. A solid introduction to nature, best shared one-on-one.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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