Dig your boots and umbrella out of the closet and join Baby Duck in discovering how to have fun without getting your feet wet.
Surely you must love getting wet if you’re a duck? After all, who can resist jumping in puddles and making a great big splash? But it’s not so much fun if your feet are soaking wet and there’s water in your eyes. How can poor Baby Duck get all the way across town to visit Grandpa in the pouring rain?
Definitely Not a “Sun” Day
It’s Sunday, and every Sunday the Duck family goes to visit Grandpa to enjoy some delicious pancakes. But instead of a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a walk, it’s rain, rain and more rain. Mr and Mrs Duck don’t mind. They love the rain. So while they skip happily along, with the water rolling off their feathers, poor Baby doesn’t like it one bit. Her face is wet. Her feet are muddy. Instead of stomping in the puddles and having fun, she dawdles behind, getting wetter and unhappier. How can Mr and Mrs Duck ENJOY being drenched? It’s really spoiling Baby’s day, and she has a very sad song to sing:
“I do not like the rain one bit, splashing down my neck. Baby feathers soaking wet, I do not like this mean old day.”
Unfortunately when she sings, Mr and Mrs Duck think she is happy in the rain. But she most definitely isn’t. So she stops.
Grandpa Understands
Grandpa takes one look at poor, bedraggled Baby and gives her a great big hug and a kiss. Mr and Mrs Duck are rather worried. They don’t understand why Baby doesn’t enjoy the rain, all the splashing and skipping and jumping. But Grandpa knows. And he has a special surprise for Baby, all the way up in the attic. Something Baby’s mother used to have, when she was a baby duck who didn’t like the rain. A gorgeous red umbrella with little white bunnies, and matching boots, just the right size for Baby’s feet. Mrs Duck recognizes them right away. And just maybe she remembers what it was like when she was Baby’s age, always being miserable and getting soaked. After the pancakes Baby can’t wait to get outside with Grandpa and actually have some fun, since she doesn’t need to worry about a wet face and muddy feet any more. And thanks to Grandpa she’s got a new song now:
“I really like the rain a lot, splashing my umbrella. Big red boots on baby feet, I really love this rainy day.”
In the Rain With Baby Duck (1997, Walker Books, ISBN 0-7445-5234-6) will delight little ones who never miss a puddle when they go walking in the rain. Find out how Grandpa lends another helping hand in the other title in the series, Baby Duck and the New Eyeglasses.
