One day, Duck and Goose came upon a big round, white object with spots all over it in the middle of a field. They’d never seen anything like it before, and they both immediately assumed it was an egg. And they both wanted it. An argument immediately ensued, with much yelling, and then they felt guilty, because if they woke up the baby inside, that would be very sad. But they had to find a way to decide who the egg should belong to.
They both thought they should build an enclosure to keep the other out. The one thing they could agree on was that the egg should be kept warm, but then they couldn’t decide who should be the one to do it. They both scrambled to the top, to sit back to back, mad at each other. They waited. And waited. And waited.
Duck said he was going to teach the baby to quack, and Goose said he was going to teach it to honk. They both would teach it to waddle and to swim. And they waited some more, and became very bored, and so they taught each other how to quack and honk.
It grew night, and they counted the stars, and they agreed that the baby should learn how to fly. That was just a given.
Finally, they felt a bump from inside the egg, and got excited. They slid down from their perch, wondering what to do next, when they heard a little voice say, “Excuse me. Can I play ball with you?” A baby bird walked out from around the ball, looking hopeful.
It turns out that Duck and Goose had spent all night sitting on a ball! Did they ever feel foolish.
This book was a great tool to show children how we can put aside our differences and work together for something good. Duck and Goose came into the situation as enemies, but as they got to thinking about the welfare of the baby, and all the things it would need to survive, their animosity subsided and they became friends – a valuable lesson for us all.
(This book was published in 2006 by Schwartz Wade Books and was illustrated by the author.)
Related Blogs:
Froggy Books by Jonathan London
Humphrey Books by Sally Hunter