Reviews

Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell

knitter22's review against another edition

5.0

My kids and I loved everything about this book, from the story of the hard-working duck, the illustrations, and the animals' revenge. I still occasionally ask my college-age son, "How goes the work?!"

testpattern's review against another edition

4.0

A wonderfully drawn little anti-capitalist fable. Highly recommended to parents who want to raise their children not to be slaves.

maggior's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

dearreader's review

4.0

What a lovely picture book depicting kindness, humble hard work and friendship. Appropriate for our 2, 7, and 11 year old during story time.

crowyhead's review

5.0

Poor Duck. The farmer is very lazy, and Duck has to do all the work on the farm, until Cow, Sheep, and Hen make a plan to liberate the farm. It's a little Animal Farm-ish, but without the depressing ending, and the fact that the animals never speak but communicate only through the sounds they normally make ("How goes the work?" the farmer asks. "QUACK!" replies Duck) makes this both fun to read out loud and very funny. My kindergarten storytime group liked this one so much that both copies got checked out by kids who wanted to read/her the story again.

backonthealex's review against another edition

5.0

Poor duck! The lazy farmer just stays in bed all day long reading the newspaper (tabloids?)and eating boxes of candy. And to make matters worse, each time Duck does a chore, Farmer yells out "How's the work going?" All the hoeing, gardening, taking care of the other animals, ironing, washing dishes, cooking are really wearing Duck down. The other farm animals really like Duck, and so one day they come up with a plan for helping him out. And what a plan it is!

I love Farmer Duck. I remember reading it to my Kiddo when she was young and we had lots of discussions about it. Helen Oxenbury's watercolor illustrations really communicate Duck's feelings and his weariness as he takes care of the farm despite the fact that all he ever utters is Quack. The slovenliness of the farmer and the empathy the other animals feel are also well represented mainly by facial expressions. There is a true revolutionary spirit in this wonderful tale that seems to reflect today's world more than was intended, I'm sure. I was so happy to see this classic reissued for today's young readers. I know they will Quack along with duck every time it's read.

kaitsuchan's review against another edition

2.0

I liked how this book was in both Chinese and English, but overall the message it sends is not the best. Duck lives with a lazy farmer and farm animal friends want to help him out. I don't think they went about it the right way, but students might find it funny at least.

elizastudying's review against another edition

5.0

Ba é sin mo dhara leabhar :D Ba mhaith liom é. Léigh mo mhammy seo labhar nuair a bhí mé i mo pháistí mar sin bhí seo "trip-down-memory-lane". Is scéal gleoite é! I do have to admit to having to use google translate for some of these sentences in Irish I wrote, but mostly for the order of sentences, rather than the vocab. I am making progress clearly.

wafflesnbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I read this in English with Portuguese and Spanish translators for a library event. So many languages can slow a story down and make it hard to keep the kids' attention, but the repetition and the animal noises made for a great read-aloud despite the multilingual confusion.