Thump and Plunk

by Janice May Udry, Geoffrey Hayes (Illustrator)

Two little ducks enjoy nothing more than thumping and plunking one another in this amusing tale of sibling rivalry for beginning readers.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Janice May Udry is an American author. She was born in Jacksonville, Illinois and graduated from Northwestern University in 1950. Her first book, A Tree is Nice, was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1957 for Marc Simont's illustrations. Her papers are held at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet, but somewhat silly, tale about sibling rivalry. It was a fun, fast read and the illustrations are adorable. I discovered this original edition in a thrift store. I decided not to buy it, but I enjoyed reading it.

The similarity of the names of the mice and their dolls would likely make this a tricky book to read aloud without tripping over my tongue.

[Allie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Genuinely baffling. I struggled with this bonkers tongue twister as an adult. I cannot even imagine trying to read it as an emerging reader!!

[Elizabeth S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute and all. But very difficult to follow. And tricky to read out-loud.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the 2000 reworked edition. A bad book has been made into an awful book. The language has been dumbed down again and again. The pagination has been ruined. The mice are now ducks. Instead of having mice dolls, they have frog dolls. Instead of getting ice cream at the end, they get "a nice swim." (It's still a treat, so the problem with rewarding fighting is still there.)

The original tells the story in 20 pages (the last is a wordless full spread). This one does it in 22 (the last is a wordless full spread). So why does the first have five pages without a single word of text while this one only has three (not counting the final spreads)?

The original makes good use of white space - the first spread has only "Here are Thump and Plunk" on the left page with a full page illustration of them facing on the right. The next spread has only "(with their dolls, Thumpit and Punkit.)" to finish the sentence and again a facing full page illustration. Then "They sit still and look at their toes for a while." and again a facing full page illustration. It's very calm and inviting for the reader. The next spread doubles up the action - the left side has an illustration with a single line of text beneath: "Then - Plunk plunks Thump's Thumpit." and the right side has an illustration with a single line of text beneath: "So - Thump thumps Plunk." Then things progress. The next page has two lines of text beneath the illustration: "And Plunk plunks Thump. So - Thump thumps Plunk again." and the right page has THREE lines of text: "And Plunk plunks Thump again. They plunk and thump and thump and plunk each other until - " We have been building in the action and similarly in the amount of text and how it is present on each spread. The next spread has a single wide illustration over both pages and three lines of text on each page. Then another wide illustration with four lines of text on the left and three lines on the right. Things are escalating. The next spread has the most text of the entire book: nine lines with a facing wordless illustration. Clearly, this is the climax. Then we turn the page and the spread goes back to more how things began: three lines of text and lots of white space and a single facing wordless illustration. Then the double spread to end things.

This new reworking destroys everything that was so carefully laid out. For example, this one starts "Here are Thump and Plunk, with their dolls, Thumpit and Plunkit." on the very first page. There is no building by means of wordless facing illustrations because every spread has either two illustrations or an illustration that is double wide (with a section left white for text). So everything is homogenized. In the original, the tit-for-tat builds page by page, first Thump acts, next Plunk acts. But in this new one, things get smoothed out so the same amount of text is shown on each page and the page turns are not revelatory of the heightening of the conflict. The investigation now takes six pages instead of four. Then that climactic nine lines is delivered over THREE pages instead of just one. It's just poorly done.

The text itself has been changed. For example, the original reads, "'All the same,' says their mother, 'you may plunk Plunkit but do not plunk Thumpit. Understand? And do not plunk Thump, either.'" but this new edition turns this into "All the same,' says their mother, 'you may plunk Plunkit but do not plunk Thumpit. And do not plunk Thump. Ever.'" These are subtle changes, but it makes a difference.

In any event, this 2000 edition has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The illustrations are not appealing, and Udry's text has been changed for the worse. The real victim is whoever designed the original layout. That person knew what he was doing - maybe Udry was responsible or involved, I don't know. But every good decision in the original has been countermanded by heavy-handed homogenizing, and we are left with "product" instead of art.

Search out the original (IA) if you have a chance.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 1981 original. It's not a great book, but it's got a bit of appeal in the illustrations. I think that the account it gives is probably pretty darn accurate for many families - squabbling and petty violence between siblings are addressed with a cursory investigation and a half-hearted parental lecture - followed up by a reward (ice cream, in this case). What message do you think the kids get out of that? While it is true-to-life, I think I'd prefer a fictional story about mice to be a bit more idealistic.

The reworked edition of 2000 is awful - worse in every possible way.

[Sandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the most confusing stories I have ever encountered. As a new reader, I'm sure it would be that much more confusing. There are plenty of stories of siblings flighting. Look for another. There is just no need to read this one.

[Jc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teaching kids to cooperate and not fight can be challenging but Thump and Plunk make it easier.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute duck drawings and a tongue-twisting story. Read it to your nephews in your best Donald Duck voice!

[Petie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually incredibly funny to read aloud.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Osceola has the original edition, as of Sept. '17.)

This edition doesn't work. The squabbling ducklings should not be illustrated with such twee cuteness. Besides, I'm not the right audience for this, so maybe I won't bother to seek out the original, either.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book that will help children learn the sound of the letter "u," this is it. Otherwise, it's a disappointment all around. The drawings don't correspond with the text--the mother is shown smiling as she scolds the children for using their toys to hit each other's toys. The theme seems to be don't hit each other's toys, which isn't enough to warrant a book. finally, the names of the children and toys are so similar (Thump, Plunk, Thumpit, and Plunkit) that it's easy for a fluent reader to get confused. That's really saying something in a book of roughly 200 words.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claire read this book to me today, she just loved the siblings fighting- it probably reminds her of her and her sisters. Thump, Plunk, thumping, plunking, Thumpit, Plunkit-- very much a tongue twister for a young reader. It says the reading level is a 1.2.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a tongue twister.

[Aspasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tongue twister.

[Missmath144 · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do “thump” and “plunk” mean. Figure it out from the context.

[Shantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

kind of difficult for a beginner reader

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for talking about siblings fighting