Awards and Reviews

Top-rated children’s picture book about special needs

As parents we want to influence our children positively by teaching them that all people are unique and wonderful in and of themselves. Accepting others for who they are is an important part of proper growth and development. There is a top-rated kid’s picture book that takes children on an adventure with a classroom and their desire to help a beloved duck named Lemon. Based on the author’s real-life experience with her pet duck, Laura Backman cleverly endears us to Lemon and teaches the reader the rewards of perseverance and acceptance. For those children who personally experience a special need that requires them to move around uniquely, Lemon the Duck will become a treasured read. Those children who know or spend their classroom time with a friend who has difficulty walking, Lemon the Duck will give insight and understanding.

Cheer along with Lemon as she strengthens her muscles and marvel at the resilience of the children who just want to help Lemon to walk. This award-winning children’s picture book is a must in every household for it allows children to become a part of a journey of hope and endurance. Laura Backman based Lemon the Duck on her own real-life experience with her pet duck, Lemon. This top-rated children’s picture book shares the struggles and triumphs of a little duck born with a balance problem. Lemon needed special attention and Ms. Lake’s class accepted the responsibility fully. Quack loudly with the children as they experiment and finally find a way for Lemon to muck around in the grass with the other ducks. It is a heartfelt journey for a group of children who learn a great deal of love from Lemon the Duck.

________________ CM . . . . Volume XV Number 3. . . .September 26, 2008

cover
Lemon the Duck.

Laura Backman. Illustrated by Laurence Cleyet-Merle.
Montreal, PQ: Lobster Press, 2008.
32 pp. hardcover, $19.95.
ISBN 978-1-897073-74-2.

Subject Heading:
Ducks-Juvenile fiction.

Preschool-grade 3 / Ages 4-8.

Review by Margaret Snow.

**** /4

In the story Lemon the Duck, Ms. Lake has a great new learning experience for her primary students... they are incubating four Pekin domestic duck eggs. On "the big day," Peaches, Chip Chip, Daisy and Lemon emerge. While the children celebrate their new found friends, they notice Lemon is different... she is unable to stand. As the story progresses, the reader learns Lemon has been born with neurological problems that will require "extra special care."

      While the other three ducks retire to Mr. Web's farm, Lemon lives with the teacher and becomes the class pet. Pushed in a stroller, Lemon commutes where she enjoys swimming in a tub and she is hand-fed worms. Yet still Lemon longs for the freedom to move about independently. The children work as a team experimenting and problem solving to give Lemon the best possible support in her quest for more autonomy. They try tying balloons to her, using a walker, propping her up with pillows, food temptation, but finally meet with success when student Holly notices a dog life jacket while helping to clean her garage at home. Back at school, the teacher slips Lemon's legs into the holes of the dog vest, the children hold the handles to assist with the weight, and VOILA, Lemon can walk upright for the first time. If the children are busy, they simply attach Lemon's carrier to a stand. She is finally able to move around on her own, observing what is happening around her, "mucking around in the ground (like all ducks love to do) "and even finding her own worms for the first time rather than being hand fed."

     A quiver of sadness begins as Nathaniel questions if this freedom means Lemon is now destined for Mr. Web's farm as well. Ms. Lake confirms that Lemon will always need them, to which Nathaniel's response is, "I think we need her too!"

     Laura Backman has done an incredible job of relating a personal experience that occurred in her primary classroom in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Children can easily identify with a variety of typical student character types found in the text. She has crafted a book where much can be learned about not only the basic development of "oviparous animals" (animals that lay eggs) but more importantly the value of an individual with special needs. Select phrases that incorporate the use of a variety of senses are sprinkled throughout the text, such as "mucking around," "chorus of quacking," "grandmother's lemon meringue pie," "burst out of their egg" and "peeping balls of fluff."

      Backman has subliminally added life lessons; for instance, disabilities do not make one less special, the importance of quality of life; goals can be achieved in creative ways when one has difficulties to overcome; and assistance is important but so is standing back to offer encouragement so that self-reliance and a sense of personal accomplishment might also be achieved.

Nathaniel showed the others how to feed her. "Hold the worm by Lemon's tail," he instructed. "Ms. Lake says Lemon needs to practice touching her oil gland so she can get stronger, and waterproof herself. It will keep her dry in the water."

internal art Laurence Cleyet-Merle, from Marseille, France, has illustrated many books, magazines and even board games. His well drawn cartoon images are the perfect medium to capture the wide-eyed innocence of children looking at a special needs character for the first time. He has revealed a sense of wonder, concern, love and compassion in the facial expressions of both the children and the ducks. Both colour and light have been skillfully utilized to enhance the story with his quality art.

Lemon the Duck supports primary curriculum and teachers might use this book with children to show:

a "SAFE WAY" to talk about disabilities
the importance of accepting individuals for what they can do
class team work
following through with a class project
the development of egg laying animals
the enhancement of a story by using descriptive phrases
vocabulary development
lessons on "Writing Traits" i.e. word choice, organization, voice, sentence fluency, ideas, conventions

Not only is this an awesome story, but the reader can turn it into a real life experience. To do a follow up on Lemon, visit her website at www.lemontheduck.com. Here you cannot only see the nonfiction version of this tale unfold but also get updates on Lemon, complete with pictures, home video clips, poems, jokes, other stories of animal rescue, duckology and several newspaper articles featuring Lemon.

To summarize, Lemon the Duck book is delightfully well-written, with excellent illustrations, and has a variety of purposes in a classroom. I highly recommend this book both for home and school use.

Highly Recommended.

Margaret Snow is a teacher librarian and Early Literacy teacher in a small school in Southwestern Ontario.

Inspiring, Joyful, and Thought-provoking, September 4, 2008

This is a joyful and thought-provoking book for all ages about how animals can cope with serious handicaps. I've witnessed my own critters make remarkable comebacks from serious illness and injury, including a blind turkey named Hazel. 'Lemon the Duck' is a chronicle of just this kind of courage. It's inspiring on the human side, too. Few people would go to the trouble of teaching a duck with neurological problems to stand up and feed on her own. Laura Backman and her students show how far love can go, and you have to wonder who benefited most - Lemon, or Laura and the children. Both the text and the superb illustrations make this book a must. - Bob Tarte, author of 'Enslaved by Ducks' and 'Fowl Weather.'

Wayne S. Walker, reviewer with Stories for Children, 09/01/2008

Richard was the first to hear the soft peeping sounds as the four duck eggs began to hatch in Ms. Lake's classroom. The children named the ducklings Peaches, Lemon, Daisy, and Chip-Chip. However, neurological issues made Lemon unable to walk. Ms. Lake contacted Dr. Bill the vet, who said that Lemon had a balance problem for which not much could be done. The other ducks went to live on Mr. Web's farm, but Ms. Lake and the students did what they could to give Lemon the extra special care that she needed to grow stronger. In the end, their creativity invented a solution for Lemon to visit with her siblings. This book is based on the inspirational true story of the author's real-life experience with a duck born in an elementary school classroom. It teaches not only about egg to duckling development but also about animals (and people) who are different and have special needs. Children need to remember that disabilities do not make anyone less special, and a book like this is a helpful way to impress such a lesson on their minds. It is a truly heart-warming story with lovely illustrations that I highly recommend.