Ducks Overboard

Picture book

     Plastic duckies are one of the favorite enticements parents use to get kids into the bathtub.  A lot of people see them as the epitome of cute.  But Marcus Motum's Ducks Overboard shows young readers the sinister side to this iconic toy. 

"You may have seen plastic ducks like me before, but I'll bet none of them has a story quite like mine.  I've been on quite an adventure.  This is the story of that incredible journey--where I came from, how I got lost, the strange and amazing sights I saw, and how I ended up here."

     Motum's narrator is manufactured in a Chinese factory in 1992.  Its shipping container containing bath toys headed out for the United States on a ship.  Only there's a huge storm at sea.  The container falls overboard, breaking to unleash 28,000 plastic ducks and other critters on the ocean.  

     Winds and waves propel the critters to an amazing number of continents.  A two page spread shows a location map that amazed me.  Some even spend time in Arctic ice.

     Our narrator isn't one of the lucky ones, ending up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS that traps a major amount of trash.  Weeks, months, and years pass until there's another storm kicks up...

     ...bringing our diminutive narrator's story to a satisfying ending.

     The story is actually true.  The shipping container was lost in the Pacific Ocean in January of 1992.  Scientists have managed to track down most of them.  Only a couple of thousand of them are unaccounted for.

      This isn't just a book for our children to read and forget about.  A lot of interesting and alarming facts are seamlessly woven into the text.  At the end are suggestions for how kids, families, and groups can help in the fight against plastic pollution.  It's a great acquisition for school and public libraries.

On a purrrsonal note, I've been putting in time volunteering at 0rono Public Library now that I've recovered from an exhausting fall semester.  My specialty is shelf reading in the juvenile wing.  I'm going to try to shelf read the whole wing before I'm back in school.  The librarians are very happy to have me for awhile.  I enjoy being at a place where parents and children share a love of reading.  The only danger is that I keep coming across all these wonderful books I just hear to review.  (Jules)

It must be a good place.  The people there love cat shirts and cats.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to librarians, library volunteers, and all those wonderful library card holders.  We are family!

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone