Duck on a Tractor

The last page of Duck on a Bike (rev. 3/02) showed our farm-dwelling protagonist contemplating a tractor, and this book picks up right where Bike left off. Duck hops on that tractor and never looks back, stopping only -- and sometimes not even stopping -- to pick up his barnyard buddies: buoyant Dog, eager Mouse, cautious Sheep, graceful Cat, Pig and Pig, etc. They make their way downtown, cruising past the diner and giving the startled onlookers an eyeful. Farmer O'Dell: "That's a dang nice tractor...Hey, that's my tractor!" Everyone races outside, only to find that the animals have skedaddled. "Nah!...It couldn't have been!" "It was an optical illusion!" (Observant viewers will connect the dots between the boy holding the camera and the book's blurry last page.) Shannon's easygoing text tells us both what the characters are saying ("M-o-o-o!") and what they're thinking ("But what she thought was, 'This is the silliest thing I've ever done!'"). The illustrations, too, humorously blend farmyard realism with judicious anthropomorphism with artistic impressionism. There's real beauty -- that painterly sky! the textured brushstrokes! those Monet clouds! -- in the scene with Sheep soaring high overhead. elissa gershowitz

Starting right where Duck on a Bike left off, Duck hops on a tractor, stopping only to pick up his barnyard buddies: Dog, Mouse, Sheep, etc. They make their way downtown, cruising past the diner and giving startled onlookers an eyeful. Shannon's easygoing text and his illustrations, too, humorously blend farmyard realism with judicious anthropomorphism.