Friday, June 22, 2012

Gobble, Quack, Moon

Gobble, Quack, Moon
image source matthewgollub.com
By Matthew Gollub
Illustrated by Judy Love
Tortuga Press
Ages 3-6

A tale of four animal friends, rhyme that bounces merrily along, and a space odyssey – what’s not to like? Throw in some humor, puns and wordplay, vibrant watercolors, rhythm, and a fun CD – and you have a winner. This Benjamin Franklin award-winning book is sure to be enjoyed by little ones.

When Katie the cow gazes wistfully at a shimmering star, and wonders what it’s like to go away real far, the hitherto uneventful farm gets shaken up.

The turkey and the duck each knew a thing about flight.
They squawked and they quacked through half the night.
Then the four made a plan, and they talked, and they drew, with a
Gobble-gobble,quack! Hee-haw. Moo-moo.


The accompanying illustrations show the wannabe astronauts drawing up plans, lists and designs. And then…

The next day started with a bang tat ting!
The animals were building an incredible thing:
A tall rocket ship made of cans and glue,
While Farmer Beth slept in her bed with no clue!


Now picture the donkey wearing spectacles and with a pencil behind the ear, busy with the rocket manual!

The friends blast off and land on a surface full of Swiss cheese holes, made by big space moles? It is “udderly” great – they can float because there’s no weight. They dance in space and things are terrific. But in a while, Katie misses earth with its fresh milled grain, Farmer Beth, the sun and the rain.

Soon enough they land on a haystack, content in the realization that their life is the best here or there, or anywhere. Katie too, although she’s glad they reached for the stars.

The book struck a chord with my son who had been excited and looking forward to his trip to the other side of the world, but is now missing the comfort and familiarity of home.

He is now enjoying the CD, while I google the dance forms mentioned in the book.


4 comments:

Praba Ram said...

Sounds "udderly" wonderful, A! :) Reminds me of Giggle, Giggle, Quack Quack by Dorneen Cronin. Never get tired of books featuring farmyard animals. Several copies of Moo, Baa, Laa have been given away. I have a long-list of favorites in farmyard books that I am revisiting now for my storytime. May be we should cluster them?

Praba Ram said...

Click, clack moo cows that type - another favorite. The kids loved the DVD version too!

Sheela said...

Thanks for the review, Arundati! The 4 yo liked this book too - the blast off was the favorite part; and I had to look up Watusi, Zombie, even Mashed Potatoes :)

Arundhati said...

Praba - Thanks for all those reccos!

Sheela - Good to know Oggie enjoyed it :)

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