School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-In the tradition of Mo Willems's Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (Hyperion, 2003) and Herve Tullet's Press Here (Chronicle, 2011), Soffer's charming duck hero breaks the fourth wall with panache. Duck just wants to be left alone to bask on the beach, but those pesky readers keep turning the page, unleashing snow, pinching crabs, a bird pooping on his head, and even pirates! Originally published in Israel, this translation from the Hebrew flows with the interactive rhythm of storytime, and the appealing colors and flowing lines of Soffer's humorous illustrations are a perfect match for the text. VERDICT An ideal read-aloud that will appeal to a wide audience.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Author-artist Soffer adds to the increasingly crowded shelf of metafictional picture books in a playful story that has readers wreaking havoc on a duck's island getaway. Relaxing with an ice-cream cone in a beach chair, Duck couldn't he happier. "Whoa! What just happened? Who turned the page?" he shouts as his ice cream goes flying. Realizing that readers are responsible, Duck begs them to stop turning pages, but books don't work that way, and Duck is soon fending off pinching crabs, inclement weather, and pirates who want to turn him into soup. While Soffer's story and his much-protesting protagonist have plenty of literary forebears (starting with The Monster at the End of This Book), the conceit works well-who hasn't felt like an unseen power is making vacation fly by too quickly? Handsomely executed colored pencil illustrations play up Duck's growing indignation, and Soffer doubles down on the schadenfreude with an ending that lets readers ruin not just Duck's day but that of the pirates as well. Ages 2-5. Agent: Rena Rossner, Deborah Harris Agency. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
