Duck! Rabbit!
Is it a duck? Or, is it a rabbit? Two unseen characters disagree on what animal they see. In a very funny conversation, they try to convince each other what the animal is by describing the duck and rabbit characteristics that they each see. This story is a visual treat for the whole family.
Pennsylvania Center for the Book Awards
Book Activities & Discussion Ideas
Read the story a first time with children allowing them to see the visual lines that make the animal look like a duck or a rabbit. On a second reading, invite the children to use actions to become a duck or a rabbit, by creating a duck’s bill or a rabbit’s ears with their hands. The children can pretend to eat a piece of bread or a carrot, make duck or rabbit sounds, wade in place through the grass or hide in the grass, fly in place or hop in place, etc.
Share with families that the end pages of a book often give clues about the story. They often have illustrations that tell something more that adds interest, or can even just be a solid color or a pattern that gives the story a particular mood. In this story, the front and back end pages show fluffy clouds made up of duck and rabbit figures. Explain to families that in sharing the book with children, they could start by asking children to tell what they see in the cloud pictures. What do they predict the cloud pictures have to do with the story? Using glue and cotton balls, families can create cloud pictures on blue construction paper. Children can create other animals or shapes that they might see in the sky. Label the cloud pictures.