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What do you get when you cross a little known mollusk with a TV show featuring a Sea Star reporter?

A hilarious misadventure. Written in a lively newscast-graphic novel format, this book will keep kids giggling while teaching them about an animal they’ve never heard of. Initially, the humor is based on the glaring difference between the spelling of geoduck, and how it’s pronounced, gooey-duck, but expands to include additional jokes and sight gags.

Readers don’t have to be animal lovers. They don’t have to be interested in sea creatures. They just have to open the book. Once they do, they’ll be hooked by the absurd humor supplied by the clueless Sea Star reporter and the madcap illustrations, the puns, the false conclusions, and the tasty (and satisfying) ending.

Here’s a peek at the first three spreads:

Note the tiny details, like the doily for the crab’s coffee cup in its cave, the TV remote. I love the demanding posture of the octopus news anchor as she fires off her questions to the reporter. This is all a set-up for what turns into ongoing explanations by the crab, which are misunderstood by the reporter each time. It’s funny to see the missteps of Sea Star (possibly interpreted by an adult as an overzealous yet clueless reporter) as he fumbles his way through the broadcast. But kids don’t need to know about reporters to enjoy the wide variety of jokes offered up, like when the Sea Star mistakes the “foot” of the geoduck for an elephant’s trunk.

I’ll wager that kids who can read for themselves will find it a favorite. And the kids who can’t read will be asking an adult to read it again and again and again.

Activities:

Watch this video about geoducks, created by Deep Marine Scenes.

Find more information about geoducks at the NOAA fisheries website.

Pair this book with Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Scott Magoon.

Title: A Geoduck is Not a Duck

Author: Candy Wellins

Illustrator: Ellie Peterson

Publisher: Little Bigfoot Press, 2024

Ages: Elementary school

Themes: geoduck, ocean creatures, graphic novel format

For more perfect picture book recommendations, please visit Susanna Hill’s website.