Off to School, Baby Duck! - Hardcover

Amy Hest says, "It's been a long time since I was a schoolgirl, but I STILL remember those first-day blues. Knots in my stomach, and all those secret worries. Would I have a friend? Would my teacher like me? If only I could just stay at home...Of course, I wasn't ALLOWED to stay home. Those grownups were so bossy, sending me off with a kiss and chopped-egg sandwich. 'Off to school, Amy Lynn!' Funny, I really liked school, maybe even loved school, once I got rid of those first-day blues."

Jill Barton says that the illustrations for the Baby Duck books, "indeed all my books, have been influenced by my own memories. My illustrations are laden with pickles and fruit and jam in neatly labeled jars, with fields and farms, ducks and pigs and horses and cats and dogs, and with farmers in bowler hats and flowered waistcoats, looking suspiciously like my Grandpa."
From the Trade Paperback edition.

Baby Duck is a trailblazer of sorts, showing young children what it will be like when they become siblings or have to face a challenge such as wearing glasses. Now, Baby Duck is on her way to school, and she's not happy about it. Despite the fact that she has a new school bag containing a fresh pad and yellow pencil, she isn't sure she wants to take the leap into scholarship. As usual, it is a talk with Grandfather that helps her make the transition, especially as he encourages her to voice her fears in a song: "Please don't make me go to school. / My teacher will be mean. / I won't have any fun or friends. / And who will buckle my shoe?" A nice teacher, a new friend, and the promise that her family will be waiting when school is out, prompt a new, happier song. There are many books about starting school, but like You're the Boss, Baby Duck (1998),which dealt with the arrival of a new baby, familiar situations seem new, fresh, and very real when Baby is in the middle of them. It is amazing how Hest can delineate a character so completely with so few words--as when Grandfather tells Baby she sings nice songs, and Baby immodestly agrees, "Yes. I do." As in the previous books, Barton's big, friendly pictures in an oversize format warm the text. Baby Duck continues to be a terrific combination of sugar and spice. Ilene Cooper