I have to admit that I choke up whenever I read Duck by Randy Cecil.  This book tells the story of a carousel animal, a duck, that dreams of flying like other ducks.

One day, a small lost duckling walks up to Duck, thinking Duck is his mother.  Duck takes the duckling under her wing and raises her.  They laugh, plan and dream together.  Duckling is growing up, and soon, Duck realizes that she will have to teach Duckling to fly.  After trying everything she knows how to do, Duck finally straps Duckling to her back with her scarf.  When they see ducks flying by, they jump off a hill, and Duckling flaps his wings.  Duck realizes that she is weighing Duckling down.  She loosens her scarf and falls to the ground, watching Duckling fly away with the other ducks.

The winter passes sadly for Duck.  When spring comes, she no longer looks at the ducks flying, because flying took Duckling away from her.  Then, she spots Duckling out of the corner of her eye.  Duckling has returned.  They laugh and play until Duckling takes duck onto his back and helps her to fly.

This is honestly such a sweet and touching book.  Randy Cecil’s drawings are fantastic and my young audiences love it.