Title: Dilly Duck Plays All Day
Author: Holly DiBella-McCarthy
Illustrator: Pradyut Chatterjee
Publisher: Bibliokid Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-955767-25-5
Pages: 32
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
Dilly Duck Plays All Day starts off with the solitude of a shoreline of a big lake in Wonder Wake; introducing readers not only the main character of the book, Dilly Duck, but also footing the beat and rhyme of the poetry of the storyline to follow. On a mission to find friends, Dilly calls out “Quack” and awakes a sleepy friend, and alerts another duck out splashing in the water. So now there are two happy ducks, then comes along a third. Three grows on to four, then five, and so on up until there are ten ducks.
Author Holly DiBella-McCarthy brings to children of the youngest years a book which when read by a parent will actually become a lesson on counting from one-to-ten, using a gentle story of ducks just wanting to have fun. The illustrations are truly amazing, showcasing the talent of artist Pradyut Chatterjee who adds a fanciful world of ducks of different species, all playing together. Together, combining the words and pictures, the layout is printed on adjacent pages resulting in a large, easy to read and totally encaptivating storyboard of happiness.
The excitement of the story comes near the end, when there are eight ducks. The clouds begin to form and it starts to rain with lightning and thunder. The eight ducks pick up a ninth, and then a tenth duck, as they all paddle over the shoreline then onto the grass. The happy ending of the book shows Dilly and friends all resting, cuddling; then Dilly, surrounded by nine friends under a tree, thinks to herself, “Lucky me!”
Dilly Duck Plays All Day is the perfect book for a baby-shower, or as an addition for a family library with little children learning to read, count to ten, and are amazed by these feathery-friends floating in the water and waddling on the land. Yes, ducks are a species of water birds for children to love because they are so cute, having colorful markings, most have orange beaks, all are without teeth, and they can walk, swim both over and under water, and fly! Dilly Duck is an ideal main character, and hopefully Holly DiBella-McCarthy will create other adventures of this fanciful duck – who’s name rhymes with “Silly.”
