Duck On a Bike

Bibliography: Shannon, D. (2002). Duck on a bike. New York: Blue Sky Press.

Annotation: One day this duck from a farm had this crazy Idea that he could ride a bike. So he stole a boy’s bike. At first he was wobbly but he eventually got the hang of it. Duck waved to the cow on the bike. The cow found this very silly. He said hello to the sheep and the sheep felt he was going to get to hurt if he was not careful. As he got better he rode passed the dog and the dog thought this was a neat trick. Next was the cat and the cat didn’t seem interested in the bike. After the cat was the horse and the horse thought you still are not faster than me. Next was the chicken and the chicken clucked “watch were you’re going.” After almost running over the chicken was the goat and the goat thought the bike looked tasty. Next were the pigs and they felt he was being a show off. After the pigs were the mouse and the mouse wished he could ride a bike like the duck. After the duck showed the mouse a bunch of kids came racing on their bikes without noticing the duck The kids parked their bikes and went inside. Meanwhile all of the animals had bikes to ride and they thanked duck for the good idea. Once the ride was over they put the bikes back and no one knew of the bike rides that day.

Genre: Animal Fantasy/ Fiction

Grade: K-3

Readers: The readers that will enjoy this book are readers that enjoy guessing books. Other readers that will enjoy this book are readers that enjoy books about animals doing mysterious things while people are away.

Rate/Response: 7 I enjoyed this book but I feel it is not David Shannon’s best work. I really enjoyed his Bad Case of Strips book and this one just seemed less than that book.

Question: Do you think farm animals can ride bikes? What would you do if you saw a duck riding your bike?