Captain Duck
PreSchool-Grade 1-The lovable yet disruptive protagonist from Duck in the Truck (2000) and Fix-It Duck (2002, both HarperCollins) is back. Puttering along in his bright red truck, he runs out of fuel. What to do? He snatches a can of gas out of Goat's shed, but his getaway is quickly diverted by the sight of Frog heading to the dock for a boat ride with Goat and Sheep. As Goat runs back for something (it turns out to be gas), he warns them not to touch "the string." Along comes Duck, who can't resist, and soon Frog is waterskiing behind the out-of-control boat. When it runs out of gas, a long night washed out to sea is in store for the friends. Finally, they drift in on the tide, and Goat "busts" the bird for his fuel thievery. A comic ending shows Duck heading off for more gas while the others are back out in the boat. As in the previous two (mis)adventures, Alborough uses funny rhymes and words to great effect. The animals burst out of the boisterous, colorful pictures, which are sometimes in sequenced frames across a spread to show the course of events. This tale will definitely be a crowd pleaser for the preschool set, especially if paired with Eric Rohmann's My Friend Rabbit (Roaring Brook, 2002) for a storyhour on well-meaning, yet trouble-packing friends.Bina Williams, Bridgeport Public Library, CTCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.