[.ca] Farmer Duck (ISBN 0763621676)

I Could Still Hear the Kids Whispering "How Goes the Work?":
even two weeks after I read them the story in their second grade class. Kids love it. It has all the entry points for beginning readers, and adults love it too--for similar reasons. I've had university faculty tell me that it's the Communist Manifesto for kids (remember the centrality of labor, organization, and consciousness), that it's a Trotskyist text (note the role of the Duck at the end) and that it's a classic of feminism (note the multiple voices that had to be considered to fashion the uprising). It's a classic, from whatever interpretation, because it's full of joy, resistance, and hope.

Make way for .... you know:
Ladies and gentlemen, I demand an explanation. Would someone PLEASE take the time and effort to tell me exactly why it is that I had never heard of this book until the good people of the New York Public Library placed it on their, "100 Picture Books Every Child Should Know"??? Why isn't this book being handed out to every kindergartner that walks into school on their first day? Why isn't there a "Farmer Duck" Day where we all get to take off work and revel in the sublime pleasures of this text? And why, oh why oh why, was this book never recommended to me in any way, shape, or form? Ladies and gentlemen, I place the blame fully on a nation in which Madonna can create best-selling children's books because, according to her, there are NO good books for her kids (I'm having a hard time typing as I gag), while my beloved, "Farmer Duck" remains a small perfect gem in a sea of terrible literature. But I digress. "Farmer Duck" follows the unlikely premise of a duck that runs a farm all by his lonesome. The actual farmer in charge of the place is a lazy no good so-and-so who would rather eat bon bons in bed than take the time to do any work. While the man relaxes in his shirtless luxury (occasionally shouting out a helpful, "How goes the work?") the duck cuts the wood, weeds the gardens, washes the dishes, irons the clothing, and pretty much does everything that needs doing. When at long last the duck grows, "sleepy and weepy and tired" (what a great way to describe any child that has gone too long without a nap, by the way), the other farm animals decide that enough is enough. Joining forces they run that rotten farmer out of town and set about all doing the chores equally with the duck in charge. The plot is good. The illustrations are brilliant. Illustrator Helen Oxenbury (thank you, oh England, for sending us such a talented artist) has taken watercolor to a whole new level. In a scene as rife with melodrama as any film noir, we see the sheep, the chickens, and the cow walking into the farm house just before dawn. Those moments before the sun has risen have never been so expertly rendered on paper until now. Oxenbury has created subtle gradations of grey and white, steeping the scene in a fuzzy day-for-night that is absolutely stunning. And the details! If you examine the scene closely you can see three watching sheep (one with head relaxing on its front hoofs) as the intrepid heroes creep away together. I'm sorry, but my written abilities are inadequate in describing this scene. Suffice to say, it's gorgeous. What a relief to finally read a farm story in which the animals really like one another (though, technically, the farmer is the most animal-like of them all). In the canon of ducks-as-heroes picture books, place this story squarely on the shoulders of the funny "Duck on a Bike" and "Make Way For Ducklings". Any child that wants to know anything about farming will do well to read this book. I'm gushing, and I don't care. It's the best farm story ever drawn. You will enjoy every second of reading it. And that's all I have to say about that.

Plagiarism and Communism:
The author has written a children's version of George Orwell's "Animal Farm". The story is the same but with the violence omitted. The duck works for the farmer, who is portrayed as lazy. The animals decide to revolt but instead of being killed (a la Animal Farm), the farmer is run off the property that he owns. In effect, the animals have stolen the farm from him. The duck throws away his sickle as he is now free from the slavery of the farm owner. The animals set to work on "their" farm, only now the duck is giving the orders. In "Animal Farm" Orwell goes one step further and shows how the new animal leader becomes a tyrannt, whereas this book ends with everyone working together on a sunny day. (The imagery in this book is well done) The perfect communist utopia where the hard working common man or proletariat, has overthrown the "lazy" wealthy owner or bourgeois. It is a misconception that "owners" don't do any work. They might not do much physical labour but they do the most important work: the work of the mind. Aside from the theme, I didn't like this book because it encourages theft: 1) theft of a good idea for a story 2) theft of property

Plagiarism and Communism:
The author has written a children's version of George Orwell's "Animal Farm". The story is the same but with the violence omitted. The duck works for the farmer, who is portrayed as lazy. The animals decide to revolt but instead of being killed (a la Animal Farm), the farmer is run off the property that he owns. In effect, the animals have stolen the farm from him. The duck throws away his sickle as he is now free from the slavery of the farm owner. The animals set to work on "their" farm, only now the duck is giving the orders. In "Animal Farm" Orwell goes one step further and shows how the new animal leader becomes a tyrannt, whereas this book ends with everyone working together on a sunny day. (The imagery in this book is well done) The perfect communist utopia where the hard working common man or proletariat, has overthrown the "lazy" wealthy owner or bourgeois. It is a misconception that "owners" don't do any work. They might not do much physical labour but they do the most important work: the work of the mind. Aside from the theme, I didn't like this book because it encourages theft: 1) theft of a good idea for a story 2) theft of property Yes kids it's okay to steal...

Compassion and charm:
You can't help but feel instant pity for the little duck made to do all the work on the fat farmer's farm. He soldiers on while the chubby farmer monitor's his progress with a "how goes the work?" - a phrase my four year old now knows by heart and cries with a snigger with the turn of every page. The beautiful illustrations carries the Orwellian story of the animal's revolt well, and although the ending is a little far-fetched and rosy-colored, the book it's a wonderful read that has become one of our favorites.