Duck at the Door

by Jackie Urbanovic

It was a quiet night until—knock, knock, knock!—can that be a DUCK at the door?? Max the duck burst on the scene in this funny picture book. Preschoolers and those reading to them enjoy giggling along as the animals cause havoc—but always with good intentions. Max and Brody the dog, Dakota the cat, and Bebe the bird race about in their hilarious adventures in Duck at the Door, Duck Soup, Duck and Cover, Sitting Duck. Ducks in a Row, and Happy Go Ducky. Read them all...you'll quack up!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Friendship, Family

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 23, 2007

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous tale of a duck who wants to experience winter and stays behind when his flock flies south. But, um, he realizes that winter is COLD!!! And snowy!!! What's he to do! He knocks at the door of a cozy looking house and finds it is already quite full of animals and their very kind human who offers to take him in and he certainly shakes things up a bit. Will they be eager to have him leave come spring... or will they perhaps miss him just a little?

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little duck stays with a family then re-joins his flock when they come back. Pretty cute.

[Shikara Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fun story about a duck that does not fly South for the Winter believing he would enjoy the Winter as much as he did the Summer and Spring-which he quickly finds out he does not! He then spends the Winter with Irene and her lovable bunch as he awaits the arrival of Spring. During this time he learns many new skills and hobbies including channel surfing on the t.v, cooking and invading everyone's space. Text-to-World Connection: This book could be an lighthearted and easy introduction to Fall, Winter, and migration as it allows many avenues of play, discussion, and realistic thinking of the world and how things work. The activities that can stem from this book and topic is endless and appropriate across all age groups and grade levels.

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very sweet story of found family. The art told the story just as much as the words.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max is a duck who was born in the middle of Spring. He thought he would like Winter just as much, so he did not fly south with his flock when Winter began. In the midst of a snowstorm in December, Max strays onto the porch of pet owner, Irene. In desperation, Max knocks on the door.

Irene opens the door and is very surprised to see a duck on her doorstep in December. She lets Max stay with her, and her pets, for the Winter months. Max is introduced to modern lifestyles like cooking and television. He creates dishes for Irene's pets, like Tofu Surprise, and tortures them with the re-runs of episodes the family has seen multiple times.

When Winter reaches it's end, Max says farewell to his second family, and races to rejoin his flock. As the Spring, Summer, and Autumn months rolled by, Irene's family found themselves missing Max dearly. As December began, the family was not surprised when they heard a knock on the door. Irene opens the door to find that Max and his flock are staying for the winter. Irene and her family welcome the flock with open arms.


Max is an outgoing, naive, adventurous duck. He does not know how harsh winter is when he does not fly south with his flock. He was very grateful to Irene and her family for taking him in for the Winter months. Max enjoyed staying with them so much he came back and brought his flock with him for the same experience.

I would recommend this book for children the ages of five and up. Any child would enjoy this book because it is silly, cute, and very creative. I feel that this book would make them laugh. I would also recommend parents to purchase this book for their children.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I thought the drawings were super cute and creative. I really liked the characters, they were all unique in their own way. The plot was very creative and fun. Overall, I really liked this cute little picture book.

[Aimee]

Knock! Knock, who is at the door so late at night. A family of animals decides to take in this duck for the winter but have no idea how their lives will change by this decision.

The illustrator uses dark to not only show nighttime but to show mystery and suspense. It is dark in the house when the knock comes at the door and again to show sadness when the duck goes back to his flock. The illustrator outlines all of the drawings in black and then uses deep colors to color them in. This makes the animals likeable and friendly to the reader. The title page is illustrated to show the struggle the duck goes through just to get through the cold and snow to get to the door to knock. The illustrator does a very good job at using shadows in this book to reflect light around the image on the page.

[Thu Nguyen]

As reading this children book, it actually reminds me of the relationship among people. When we have someone around, we dont value them, and when they're gone, we feel missing something. Max in this book is the same. He does things differently, and it may feel a little annoying. But when he left, everybody in the house misses him. "it's better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not."

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this one, Irene is a single woman taking care of an entire family of assorted animals with which she's formed a bond of friendship. One winter there's a knock at her door, and on the front porch is a mallard duck named Max, who missed out on the flight south with other ducks since he figures winter was just as good as spring, but now he sees reality for how cold as winter it can be. Irene decides add one extra animal to her menagerie of friends, and it happens to be Max. In the next three months, Max has taken over the household, watching WWE wrestling, reading books and cooking dinner with a lotta flair. The other animals are used to Max, kinda, but sure enough the duckies are back for spring so Max moves out to hang with his ducky family. Soon the animals and Irene start to miss the little guy! Max musta meant a lot more than they wanna admit. Not to worry: next winter, Max is back, with the whole flock! It's sweet, and sour, and still a lotta fun, like Duck is in a restaurant! Or the duckies you feed at the park: sweet, kinda sour, but always fun. Read, enjoy, and don't be surprised if some little visitor is quacking at your door.
Be nice, let him in. Friends have ways to surprise you!
Four stars
This duck is to the Max!

[Emma Dee]

duck at the door
this book was about a duck that showed up at a door needing somewhere to stay for the winter since their flock left. it took some adjusting and getting use to from everyone else but the duck learned and eventually went back to his flock. after a while all of his friends started to miss him hoping he would return one day... does he?

I actually really liked this book a lot! the pictures were so much fun and it was very easy to follow and easy to read. i liked the story in general when his friends started to miss him and hoped he would return. the ending i thought was so sweet too and it made me smile for the rest of the day.

i would definitely have this book in my classroom for my students. it is a very wholesome story and one that kids would want to read over and over again! especially if read with enthusiasm kids could really like this book.

[Pamela Hatch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when it first came out in 2007. I remember the character of Max but needed a refresher on the storyline. So I checked it out from the library to read again. -- OK -- who other than Irene has at least twelve pets sharing her house and doesn't even blink when she invites in a stranded duck in the middle of winter by the name of Max to stay as a house guest. The story is OK but the humor is in the pictures as Max tries to learn how to live in a house. But he learns too well and soon throws the house into chaos...which interestingly enough turns to extreme boredom when spring comes and Max leaves to rejoin his flock as they return from their winter retreat. So be careful of opening the door when you don't know who is knocking....because you might get a surprise ending...like Irene and the whole gang get at the end of this story.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this book is called "an Easter and Springtime book" until I saw it on Goodreads. It's not an Easter book at all. This story is literally about a duck staying for the winter in this human's house with other animals. It has nothing to do with Easter nor does it mention Easter anywhere so that's weird.

That being said, I read this book for Storytime about ducks. The illustrations are fun and sometimes tell you more than what the text is saying which is kind of like a nice not-so-secret secret. I really liked the drawing of the cats in this story the most. The story overall is great and the lady in the story is SUCH a nice human being. Props to her to having all those animals living with her.

[Leah Edel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
Irene is a single lady who has a lot of different animals in her house, like dogs, cats and birds. The house was quiet one night until there was a knock on the door, and it was Max, a duck that did not want to migrate for the winter. Irene welcomed Max in to the warm house and in the next few months he learned a lot of important things. One day he heard his flock flying by and joined them. Then the other animals in the house missed Max. Later he returned not alone but will his whole flock. So, there were A LOT of ducks in the house.

Possible Topics:
1. Be welcoming to anyone, even if they aren't like you.
2. It takes time to learn new things.
3. Migration of birds.

[Niki Hawkes’ Kid’s Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truth be told, I probably love this one a little more than my son. The duck is just so dang cute! I read him with a funny voice, so that helps. On some of the pages I have to point to which animal is talking so the words make more sense, which wrecks the flow a bit, but overall the book is a delight.

Artwork: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Educational: ⭐️
Message: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Popularity*: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fun to Read: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*how often my kids and I seek this one out specifically.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked it up at the Thrift Store for a great buy. I have a children's section in my library, I have no idea why, no small kids in my life right now, but occasionally I love to read a children's book and this one was fantastic, the illustrations were awesome too. The book was in pristine condition, was sitting on the floor, I picked it up by chance and decided to purchase it, they were 3 for 99 cents.

[Pat Salvatini · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cold and lonely duck finds a new home for the winter with Irene and her house full of pets. At first Max has a lot to learn, but by April he's learned so much that everyone else is tired and out of patience. Thankfully spring arrives, the flock returns, and life is ordinary again. Until October when there is another knock on the door. Urbanovic's illustrations are bold and colorful and creatively captures the wordless emotions on the animals throughout the story.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

AHHHHH. A duck decides to stay for the winter, thinking he will like the snow and cold. Uhhh No. But he is taken inside by a caring lady and her flock of furry friends. He soon makes himself right at home, until the call of the other ducks arriving in spring is heard. A fun book that will be around for a while.

[Kylee Champlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duck at the Door is about a duck that stays behind for the winter while his flock travels south. He learns the ins and outs of life in the winter until he is able to return to his flock in the spring. That next year, he returns to the family that missed him with his entire flock to spend the next few months of winter.

[Chelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sweet book encourages children to be appreciative of friendships even though sometimes a person's hobbies are annoying. This sweet little duck secretly became a part of a family and was missed when he left. The ending of this story, Jackie Urbanovic makes a joke that the smallest of children would laugh at. A great story about frustrations and friendships.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duck knocks on the door of a houseful of assorted animals. They are fearful of what may be on the other side of the door so they get Irene up to answer the door. Duck stays the winter since he missed flying south with his flock.

[Miss Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who's that knocking at the door? It's Max, he didn't leave with his flock for the winter and needs a place to stay. Learn all the fun things he figures out during the winter while he's waiting for his flock to return.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who's that knocking at the door? It's Max, he didn't leave with his flock for the winter and needs a place to stay. Learn all the fun things he figures out during the winter while he's waiting for his flock to return.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read others of the Duck books, but somehow missed this one until today. So cute! Duck knocks on the door of Irene who already has a large menagerie of animals. He stays all winter and learns lots of things. But when his flock returns in the spring he leaves.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

the date you completed reading the book: 11-4-20
a star rating (1 to 5): 4
the date: 11-5-20
the genre: fiction
appropriate grade range: K-2
a written book review:
A cute book. My Kindergarten students enjoyed it.

[Audrey | WellReadandUndead(ish) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max, the duck, loved spring and summer, so he thought he would love winter, too. When it turns out it's too cold, he finds a home that will take him in, where he learns to be an indoor duck. Silliness ensues.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and silly story of a duck spending the winter with a family of other animals.

[Liz C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Visitors storytime

[Maria Waltner · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story that encourages bad house guests...

[Aiden and Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

GRL: L
DRA: 20

[Jc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A duck who decides to stay for the winter finds that the winter is too COLD for him.

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute/funny book for kindergarten level reading about a dick that get everything mixed up.