Have You Seen My Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri
READ!
This Caldecott Honor book shows a worried mother duck leading her brood around the pond as she searches for one missing duckling. None of the pond residents — bird, turtle, beaver, or fish — has seen Mother Duck's missing baby. But clever readers can see that the duckling isn't really lost, just adventuring — and never very far away.
EXPLORE!
LEt’s make an Obstacle Course!
Create an obstacle course using objects in your home that your child can move over, under, around and through.
The prompts used in the course are examples of prepositions, or words that show a relationship between things. These kinds of words can be tricky since you need to understand what the other words in the sentence mean to understand what those words mean together.
Doing what each word means helps them connect its meaning to an experience! Your children will be excited to help plan the course, so ask for their input. Thinking of what they can use to build the obstacle course helps them make a connection to what the word means! For example, ask “This word says ‘over’. We just jumped over the broomstick. What else can we jump over?”
Help your child get into character by making the duckling mask in your backpack!
The Big Five ideas for this book:
Talk: Talk about how the mother duck and other ducklings must have felt as they searched for the lost duckling. Discuss what your child should do if they get lost.
Play: As you read, look for the hidden duckling on each page of the story. Afterward, take turns hiding and finding a rubber duck or other toy around your home. Try repeating some of the places from the story, such as under, behind, or on top of pieces of furniture.
Sing: Sing along to the beloved “Five Little Ducks” song here!
Write: Part of the fun of this story is noticing the kinds of animals that live in ponds (such as different kinds of ducks and water birds, beaver, turtle, crawfish, etc.), but those animals may not be native to or common where you live. Search native animals in your area on the internet, then draw them with your child. Bring these drawings with you as you take a hike or visit a park. Can you spot any of the animals from your drawings?
real world connection
Family Photos: Storytelling is an important way we preserve our family and cultural histories too! Show your child photos of family members displayed in your home or on your phone. Share a memory you have of that person. What was different about when or where they grew up? Using only spoken words when we tell stories helps children build strong mental images!
LEARN MORE!
Have You Seen My Duckling? is a wordless story. Wordless books help children practice storytelling by interpreting the illustrations in the book and imagining what characters might be saying, thinking and feeling. There is no right or wrong way to read wordless books, and children will appreciate that each person has their own style!
The best part about wordless stories is that you’ll never hear the same story twice AND you can tell them in any language!