The Duck Is Stuck!: Ready-to-Read Level 1

K-Gr 2–Mike the hedgehog delivers items in Happy Rivers, a town populated by a menagerie of cheerful animals. Mike meets his garbage truck driver friend, Ash, and her helper, Sam, picking up trash. When a rubber duck unknowingly lodges in the trash door opening, garbage begins to spill out everywhere! Mike tries to alert Ash and Sam. “Mike waves and shouts. They do not hear. He has to chase them to get near.” As Mike follows the truck, he must avoid flying debris. When he finally gets their attention, Mike has a generous solution for cleaning up the trail of trash. Colorful, cartoon-style illustrations in this beginning reader depict a happy community with a lake, a park, tidy homes, and animal residents who are willing to pitch in to keep it that way. The trash truck chase provides an amusing conflict, and the resolution of Mike changing his company name to Mike Delivers And Picks Up! is a fitting conclusion.