Duddle Puck: The Puddle Duck

Wilson and Hall follow The Cow Loves Cookies by introducing another barnyard eccentric: a duck who refuses to quack. Hall gives Duddle Puck a blue ball cap and a briefcase%E2%80%94additional evidence that he is "a very odd duck." Washed in pale watercolors, Marcellus's farm looks a lot like the one in The Cow Loves Cookies, though cows aren't among the many animals that Duddle Puck mimics as the story progresses. Wilson's rhymes drive ahead like an old farm tractor, one that perhaps sputters and backfires from time to time, cataloguing the animals' indignant reactions: " %E2%80%98Duddle,' Henny squawked, %E2%80%98ducks should always quack!/ A proper puddle duck should really know how to act!' " Bold, telegraphic type blasts across the pages, emphasizing just how much fun Duddle is having, whether he is oinking like a pig while bill-deep in mud or tromping through an outdoor birthday celebration adding a "hip-hip hooray!" of his own. Not one but two closing gags suggest that this nonconformist bird won't be changing his tune anytime soon. Ages 4%E2%80%938. (Aug.)