Duck for President

February 16, 2004
As the run-up to the 2004 presidential election gathers momentum, it appears that George W. Bush may have more than Democrats on his tail. Duck, the ever-scheming star of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
has thrown his feathers in the ring. Fed-up with the drudgery of his barnyard chores, Duck decides to officially buck authority and hold an election to determine who should be in charge. The web-footed wonder narrowly defeats Farmer Brown, but soon discovers that running a farm is not all it's cracked up to be. Duck plans a move to greener pastures by entering—and eventually winning—the race for governor. However, for the ambitious feathered hero, only the highest office in the land will do, and he charts a course for the Oval Office, which also has its drawbacks. Though Cronin's latest Duck tale introduces the basic mechanics of the election process, it lacks many of the silly high jinks and clever plot turns that gave its predecessors their charm. A few nods to past presidents appear in both text and art (Nixon, Clinton, G.H.W. Bush), offering older readers a knowing wink. The focus on Duck's dissatisfaction and loneliness at the top makes the story line perhaps better suited to adults, even as Lewin's chunky-outlined watercolors continue to cater to the younger crowd with her usual dashes of humor and daffy sweetness. Her depictions of the campaign-trail motorcades, parades and town meetings are a hoot. All ages. (Mar.)

FYI
:The book will have a March 2 laydown date.

Starred review from March 1, 2004
PreS-Gr 2-This award-winning team returns with a third story of farm animals with ambition. Duck is tired of doing his chores (mowing the lawn and grinding the coffee beans), and decides to hold an election to replace Farmer Brown. When he wins, Duck quickly realizes that running a farm requires too much hard work, and sets out to run for governor. With the help of the hens, and speeches "that only other ducks can understand," he eventually ends up running the country. Executive office gives him a headache, however, so Duck returns to the farm to work on his autobiography-on a computer, with the typewriter from Click, Clack, Moo (S & S, 2000) in the wastepaper bin next to him. Lewin's characteristic humorous watercolors with bold black outlines fill the pages with color and jokes. Cronin's text is hilarious for kids and adults and includes a little math and quite a bit about the electoral process. The animals, who have no verbal language that humans can understand, are empowered by the use of the written word, and the subliminal message comes through loud and clear-one can almost hear youngsters thinking, "Watch out grown-ups! Just wait till I learn to read."-Jane Barrer, Washington Square Village Creative Steps, New York City

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2004
Duck, of "Click, Clack, Moo" fame, organizes an election at the farm. He wins his first election and runs for higher and higher office until Duck is President of the United States. Duck learns that it is "no fun" to run a country and retires to write his memoirs. There are plenty of jokes in the story and in Lewin's lively expressive watercolor illustrations; but much of the humor is directed toward adults.

(Copyright 2004 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)