A Paddling of Ducks: Animals in Groups from A to Z

This ABC book provides a delightfully offbeat introduction to collective nouns, featuring groups of animals at a Riviera-like resort locale with palm trees and a seaside Ferris wheel. An “army of Ants” closes in on an anteater's doughnuts (he's too busy with his laptop and coffee to notice), while a “bloat of Hippos” work out on exercise bikes. Even better than learning some of the unusual ways to refer to multiple animals is the way Kelly's soft-focus oil and acrylic paintings riff on the terms themselves. Thus, a “gang of Elk” and “skulk of Foxes” look appropriately rowdy, and a “labor of Moles” in hardhats are seen doing excavation work. The anthropomorphic animals feel anatomically authentic, but with exaggerated joie de vivre to spare. Ages 4–7. (Mar.)