Starred review from March 23, 2009
The team behind The OK Book
again plays with perspective and visual trickery, this time using a classic image that looks like either a rabbit (with long ears) or a duck (with a long bill). In a series of spreads that show the boldly outlined duck/rabbit against a blue sky, two offstage speakers, their words appearing on either side of the animal’s head, argue their points of view. The snappy dialogue makes for fine read-aloud: “Are you kidding me? It’s totally a duck.” “It’s for sure a rabbit.” Though the main image is basically static, Lichtenheld has fun with the details and setting, placing the animal behind green leaves (“Now the duck is wading through the swamp.” “No, the rabbit is hiding in the grass”), near water (“Look, the duck is so hot, he’s getting a drink.” “No, the rabbit is so hot, he’s cooling off his ears”), etc. The creature’s disappearance brings a brief moment of reconciliation, but the twist ending puts the speakers at odds again. Duck? Rabbit? As kids will readily see, it depends on how you look at it. Ages 3–up.
December 1, 2014
PreS-In this clever board book told in two voices, viewers are asked to identify a single central figure in different ways. Is it a duck? Is it a rabbit? It all depends on where you sit and the few subtle details that are offered. The heavy black outlined artwork is deceptively simple and brilliantly executed. Duck? Rabbit? Let the debate rage on!
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from April 1, 2009
Preschool-G *Starred Review* How cute is this? Really, really cute. Some readers may know the visual puzzle that makes the same line drawing look like a rabbit or a duck, depending on how you squint; this bookis even funnier (and a little disorienting) if youre meeting Duck/Rabbit for the first time. But eventhose familiar with how ears can turn into a beak will get a kick out ofthe wayRosenthal and Lichtenheld move the concept forward. The offstage narrators see something interesting: Hey, look! A duck! Thats not a duck. Thats a rabbit! Then the back and forth begins, with the duck quacking while the rabbit is sniffing, the duck eating bread, the rabbit munching a carrot. In the most clever spread, readers turn the book verticallyto see the duck getting a drink of water, while the rabbit cools its ears. The simple art is reminiscent of Eric Rohmanns work and will appeal to the same audience. Despite the storybasically being one joke, the clever tone and the amusing pictures (rendered in ink, watercolor, and a wee bit of colored pencil) never let it feel that way. The clever ending mightinspire kids (and parents) to create their own artistic twofers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2009
It's a duck. No, it's a rabbit. While two offstage narrators argue, readers can decide what the central figure in each double-page spread actually is. Rosenthal's skillfully written banter is heightened by Lichtenheld's simple ink, watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations of the white duck-rabbit figure outlined in thick black line and silhouetted against a bright blue sky. A great brainteaser and great fun.
(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
May 1, 2009
It's a duck. No, it's a rabbit. Either way, it's up to readers to decide which kind of creature the ambiguous figure at the center of each double-page spread actually is. With echoes of the endless debates between Samuel Beckett's Vladimir and Estragon, two offstage narrative voices fight back and forth. "Wait. Listen. Did you hear that? I heard duck sounds," says the voice on the left. To which the voice on the right replies, "That's funny. I distinctly heard rabbit sounds." Rosenthal's skillfully written banter is heightened by Lichtenheld's simple ink, watercolor, and colored pencil illustrations of the white duck-rabbit figure outlined in thick black line and silhouetted against a bright blue, friendly sky. This exercise in visual perception is both a great brainteaser and great fun. Even at the end, when the two speakers switch positions on whether the creature is a duck or rabbit, readers are left uncertain. The final joke shows an absurdity Beckett would appreciate, and further drives home the idea that there are many ways of looking at the same thing.
(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)