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Reviewed by: Taylor Coonelly, Elementary School Librarian Title: A Geoduck is Not a Duck
Author: Candy Wellins
Illustrator: Ellie Peterson
Publisher: Little Bigfoot
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 1-5 Genre/Type of Book: Nature/Humor
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: N/A Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book:
Nominated for the CYBILS award for Elementary/Middle Grade Fiction
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
A goofy nonfiction story with an unreliable newscast and a illusive geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck).
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Review:
A goofy nonfiction story with an unreliable newscast and an illusive geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck).
This book centers around a geoduck, and a teams of news called the Continuing Ocean News who are trying to uncover the creature who has been sighted on the beach. Filled with misinformation and nods to real news reporting (reporting the creature is more dangerous than it is, reporting the creature is in danger, reporting the creature has died, etc.) the news team, with the help of a crab, learn the truth about what is a geoduck really is (ending in the crab eating the geoduck). The book also features a sea star news caster, an otter camera man, and an octopus host.
This book is incredibly goofy, but is a fun take on learning about the pacific northwest mollusk called a geoduck (I didn't actually believe the pronunciation in the beginning of the book, but it is actually 'gooey-duck'). The book uses the framing of a graphic novel, but with larger words and pictures that make it more readable and simple for an elementary audience. I did like the take on the news broadcasting to tell the story, as it's fun and original and does a good job of poking at the idea of misinformation and the flaws of the media (though I don't know if kids would necessarily see the connection). The back of the book gives a large picture and Seattle Aquarium source information on what a geoduck is. This book is full of fun jokes and information that is interesting for elementary audiences and could be used in curricular contexts to learn about nature OR misinformation/fake news ideas.
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For more information about this book, see the Publisher's Website