Keep Up, Duck!

Young listeners will echo Mama Duck’s irresistible refrain in this noisy, joyful, and bouncy read-aloud about a very clever duckling.

Mama Duck and her ducklings are swimming to the lily pond, but the smallest duck, Puck, is always at the end of the line. As paddleboats splish and splosh by, Puck falls farther behind. “Keep up, Duck!” Mama quacks. Puck looks at the nearby boats and wonders, how can he keep up? He may not swim very fast, but he is determined. Hop! Hop! Plop! Will he have the last laugh? Children will love being in on the cheeky Puck’s sneaky solutions and mimicking all the sound words and the titular catchy chorus.

Ivan Bates has illustrated many books for children, including There, There and Just You and Me by Sam McBratney, Do Like a Duck Does! by Judy Hindley, and Grandma Elephant’s in Charge! by Martin Jenkins. This is a special collaboration with his late wife, Rachel Bates. Ivan Bates lives in Norfolk, England.