Duckat

by Gaelyn Gordon, Chris Gaskin (illustrator)

This is a funny story about a girl named Mabel and a duck who thinks he is a cat

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

Reviews

[Anna]

This is a book about a duck who is sure he is a cat! Mabel, the little girl, tries to convince him he is not by helping out with pictures and trying to get him to do duck things. In the end, though, it all comes down to the neighbor dog chasing the duckat and making it remember what it really is.
This is a cute book.

[Mary]

Odd, but I'm afraid this is another book that I enjoy more than the children I read it to, as they sometimes do not understand the humorous pretending that is going on. Mabel, the only human in the story, keeps saying, to the duck who thinks he is a cat, "Odd, very odd". But at the end, when a cat arrives at the front door with a "Quack!" it is the duck who mutters, "Odd, very odd". I like that! I think there is an underlying moral but I'm not prepared to state it in words. Is that odd?
I subtracted a star for the page where Mabel hid the mice in the bread bin because she didn't want to hurt the duck's feelings. I can't accept a bread bin as an acceptable place to hide mice. Don't you think that is an odd place? or is it me, again, that is odd??

[Kirsten]

This book, about a duck who acts like a cat, is hilarious. What really makes the book is the realistic, non-cartoony illustrations; Mabel looks like a girl and the duck looks like a real duck. It's just awesome.

[J]

My husband and I were browsing through a used bookstore as it was approaching closing hours when my eyes fell upon this beauty. The duck is a gorgeous creature on the cover and the title now makes sense after cracking open this particular book.

Inside in very simple writing is the story of a girl who finds a strange duck on her doorstep on a Monday. Unlike any other duck it meows and does almost all things cat rather quite well for a feathered fowl. And so follows a cute yet funny romp as a little girl tries to educate the misled creature by all means necessary whether it is educating him, placating him, trying to return him to his roots or even just letting him be as he is.

What really is the best part of the story are the brightly colorful yet realistic illustrations for they help to meat out the story whether it is the small details like the frog's humorous face or the book "Doctor Quack" with a duck's face for the author's picture. There is also the small details like the type of duck our Duckat is in the pictures and the fact that Mabel's face is almost never shown or if it is then it is in profile.

And just what type of duck is this particular beautiful bird? Right now I have my bets on that it is a long-tail duck but I could be wrong.

All in all this cute book has made its way into my library and I just now need to find a child(ren) to share it with.

[Alysa Fenner]

A cute and silly book about a duck who pretends he is a cat, but it's all just an act in the end. He was just being silly.

Readers who enjoy books about animals or that are silly would enjoy this book. I think this is a good book for ages 4-7 because they would enjoy the story and its words aren't too challenging.

[sublimosa]

Does anyone remember the talking phonebook? Years ago, our local library would feature a kids story read aloud by one of the librarians. When you dial the talking phonebook, you could choose the option to listen to the current book. Duckat was one of the featured books. I was a fully grown adult, and I listen to that story more times than I can count. It never cease to tickle me.

[Mx. Andy]

Nagustuhan ko ito. Witty and funny. Tapos sa 2nd layer, maihahalintulad sa identify crisis. Siguro kung mas magiging radikal lamang na kwentong pambata at babaguhin ko ang ending na hindi na about conformity and all

[Czarina at captainz]

Cute and very silly.

[Villain E]

First of all, I like the art. Those animal print pants painted in watercolor, that's not easy to do.

But I question the story. A duck shows up on a girl's doorstep meowing like a cat. "Odd," says the girl. "Very odd." Which I think is judgy. She tries to get the duck to behave like a duck, but it continues to behave like a cat. I wonder where this is going. Is the duck going to accept that it's a duck? Is it a message about accepting who you are instead of trying to be someone else? Or is the girl going to accept that the duck identifies as a cat? But, in the end, the duck was just joking around, playing pretend. So, um, yeah.

[Lori]

Genre- Picture Book

Reading Level- K-4

Topic and Theme- Freedom of expression, defying stereotypes

Curricula Use- Read aloud

Literary elements: Setting integral to theme, illustrations extend text and contribute to plot development, personification, interesting dialogue contributes to character development

Social- Things (and ducks) are not always what they appear.

Summary- When Mabel meets a duck who seems to believe he is a cat, she uses many techniques to try and convince him otherwise.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer]

This is a strange story about a girl who finds a duck on her doorstep that acts like a cat. It's interesting to see how Chris Gaskin, the illustrator, depicted this. I especially liked the picture of the duck curled up asleep after playing with the ball of yarn. The ending was unexpected. I wish the girl had said, "Odd. Very odd." a few less times, though. It got overly repetitious, and really added nothing to the story. The author is from New Zealand, so maybe their ducks act differently down there. An unusual read.

[Michelle Kelley]

Mabel discovers a duck on her doorstep. She welcomes it with a, "Hello" to which the duck responds, "Meow." What ensues is a cute, funny little tale about a duck who thinks it's a cat. Fun readaloud.

[Roni Rebecca]

The best book. Memorized it as a kid and used to pretend to read it from the book to the kids in my nursery class. So good. All kids should have this book in their lives (this sounds sarcastic, I realize, but it's not).

[Peggy Smith]

Odd. Very odd. A duck that thinks it's a cat and a little girl who tries to convince the duck that it's a... well, a duck. Cute.

[Mrs. Ruigrok]

My copy also has a cassette

[Uriah]

A fun kids book about a duck pretending to be a cat.

[Hillvan]

320L

[Brynja]

wish I could give this a zero

[Vanessa VD]

Very funny!

[Sarah]

Maybe a cute pair with My Cat the Silliest Cat in the World.