Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough

Both mysDuck in the Truckelf and the little boy I nanny for fell in love with the rhyming children’s book, Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough.  This book has great cartoon graphics that really help to build up the story and make it even more hilarious than the words themselves.  We’ve read this book so many times that the little boy I nanny for has it memorized and he is only two years old.  He can actually recite page by page back to me. 

Duck in the Truck is a great children’s book for teaching your child rhyming with a complete understandable story line.  The story starts off with Duck driving home in his truck.  While driving home, duck becomes stuck in the muck and his three friends, Frog, Sheep and Goat try to figure out ways to get poor Duck unstuck.  Frog starts off by giving Duck a push, but they both realize they are not strong enough to push out Duck’s huge truck.  Then Sheep comes along, driving his jeep and also tries to help Frog and Duck push out Duck’s truck.  Lastly, Goat comes by in his motorboat and tries to pull Duck’s truck out from the water, but the rope snaps.  Finally, Goat, Sheep and Frog try and push Duck’s truck out of the muck while Duck is pressing the gas in his truck – YAY, it becomes unstuck, but Duck leaves the Sheep, Goat and Frog stuck in the muck.

This book also helps to teach your child that helping your friends and neighbors can be a positive experience, although maybe not paying off in the end of this particular book as Duck leaves all of his friends stuck in the muck, but it is guaranteed to make your child laugh.  This book is also filled with different emotions for your child to feel and experience such as, frustration, eagerness, sadness and happiness.  Parents, you can also relate to this story during times when your car has needed a tow, a jump, accidently got stuck in the sand on the beach, or simply stuck in the muck. 

What got me so hooked on this story and several others by Jez Alborough is the way the story is told in such a clever rhyming fashion and illustrations that go along with each sentence so thoughtfully.  It really is a work of art and I highly recommend all of Jez Alborough books.  For me this book never gets old, unlike some of the other children’s books out there, just because I am so thoroughly impressed with everything about it.

Other Jez Alborough books that I highly recommend and you and your toddler will love are: Hit the Ball Duck, Fix-it Duck (Duck in the Truck), and Duck’s Key: Where Can it Be?