Duck, Duck, Porcupine! is a kid’s first graphic novel

Duck, Duck, Porcupine! is a children’s book that will register with kids 2-6 years old and their parents for different reason. It’s the simple tale of three friends, a duck, duck and a porcupine. They go about having fun, going to birthday parties, camping and learning how to accept each other’s differences. Each critter has its own distinct personality that is clearly conveyed through the bright, happy artwork by Salina Yoon.

Yoon is a very busy author-illustrator who has published over 150 books, including her recent release, Be A Friend. In Duck, Duck, Porcupine! Yoon’s characteristic art is fully on display. From the smiling porcupine wearing a red and white polka dot bow tie to the white and yellow ducks with each having something to spell out their personality, it’s all but impossible not to smile at this book.

The shape of the book is very similar to a graphic novel. Another similarity between this and older books is that the page stock is very high quality, glossy paper that young readers are more accustomed to seeing with graphic novels than children’s books. All of that leads to a reason that parents will like the book, its price point compared to its size.

Duck, Duck, Porcupine! has three stories all of which stand alone and have a beginning and end. This is a thicker book than it first appears to be and at a retail of $9.99 is good for parents looking concerned about value. Do your kids like the Adventures in Cartooning books? If so this is a book that they’ll enjoy also as it has a similar feel in regards to its art and storytelling.

Value is nothing without story and actually being something that kids will enjoy and want to read. Kids 2-6 will like thumbing through the book at any of the three short stories. A Perfect Day for a Picnic has our three friends headed out to the park for lunch. It’s all going great until the yellow duck sees rain clouds approaching. As it starts to rain the porcupine hides under the blanket and says that the picnic is ruined.

Those two notice that little yellow duck has wandered off and is having fun jumping in rain puddles. Porcupine sees his reflection in the puddle and it’s then that he and the white duck realize that it is fun. The next day the porcupine says that it’s a great day for a picnic, but the white duck points out to him that there’s no rain, how can it be perfect?

This is the stuff of four year old fun. Because the pages are good quality, they’re a bit thicker and less likely to tear. Some board books are OK for a kid that age, but overall they want to read big kid books with paper and actually chapters. The three stories in the book help with that too. They’re short enough to where you can read all of them in ten minutes, but the fact that it’s also a chapter book, provides parents with an easy out if they only have time to read one.

Smile, just like the porcupine does in most of these stories. Duck, Duck, Porcupine is a feel good book for ages two through six that those older ones will be able to help read too.