Five Little Ducks

First published in 1989, this charming Raffi Songs to Read/reg/ has fresh appeal as a board book that the youngest child can hold. With sweet illustrations by veteran children's book artists Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey, this lovely counting song will invoke squeals of delight from babies and toddlers. They'll love counting down as first five little ducks, then four, then three, then two, then one go out to play, not to return. Sadly, Mother Duck waits alone through all four seasons until spring returns and with it her five ducks, all grown up-along with their new families of baby ducks.

Raffi Cavoukian is an internationally renknowned musician and performer for children, best known for hits like Baby Beluga, Bananaphone, and Down by the Bay. He is the founder of the Centre for Child Honouring, which advocates for an ecological worldview, a whole systems shift in the way we make decisions that affect our children’s world. Learn more about Raffi, his music, and his foundation at RaffiNews.com, on Twitter at @Raffi_RC, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Raffi.Cavoukian.

Jose Aruego was a lawyer before becoming a children’s book illustrator. . A native of the Philippines, he moved to New York City in 1956 to study at Parsons School of Design. His cartoons were published in the New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Post, and his illustrations can be seen in Five Little Ducks by Raffi, as well as in the 82 children's books he wrote himself. He died in 2012.

Ariane Dewey, with her illustrating partner Jose Aruego, has illustrated over 60 children’s books. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in New York City. Her art can be seen in Five Little Ducks by Raffi.