Skip to main content

What is Chasing Duck? AND There's a Pest in the Garden!





What is Chasing Duck? 
AND
There’s a Pest in the Garden!
Both By Jan Thomas
Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2017. Easy Readers.

Have you wondered what you would do now that the Elephant and Piggie books are all published? Have you been looking for new things to make you laugh over in the Easy Reader section? Well, this is not Elephant and Piggie—but these books are SO MUCH FUN!

I have loved Jan Thomas books for ages. Rhyming Dust Bunnies stole my heart eight years ago…and I have loved seeing the new Jan Thomas books ever since! (Seriously if you don’t know about A Birthday for Cow! or Is Everyone Ready for Fun? then you are missing out! And don’t even get me started on the fun I had reading Let’s Count Goats! in story time years ago…)

Anyway, so rewind back to the part about me missing Elephant and Piggie books. I do miss them. And then here comes picture book author and illustrator Jan Thomas who I love—and she has published TWO easy reader books with some of the characters from her picture books! I am in heaven! These are funny. These are clever. These books make me chuckle. And I think that youngsters who are learning to read will love them too.

What is Chasing Duck? is about something that is chasing duck. (Doesn’t that just make young kiddos wonder just by reading the title?) And in classic Jan Thomas style there is a small twist at the end. In There’s a Pest in the Garden! again the title gives readers a clue as to what to expect (and isn’t that just so helpful when they are learning to read?) Duck is worried that the pest will eat all his favorite garden veggies. So with another clever ending readers will again laugh. Oh, thank you Jan Thomas for writing fun easy reader books! And I am excited that it looks like there will be at least two more in the future. Oh happy day!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...

Five Faves: New Dragon Chapter Books for Middle Grade

As a kid I was OBSESSED (all caps!) with dragons.  Dragons can be scary, majestic, loyal, greedy, but what they all have in common is how fun they are to read about!  Check out the dragon books below for some fun new reads! Dad Rock Dragon Quest Written by Joan Reardon New York : Aladdin, 2025. Fiction. 342 pgs. Dad Rock Dragon Quest follows 12-year-old aspiring rockstar Zadie Drake, whose summer plans to bond with her super cool, if sometimes absent, daredevil park ranger dad get complicated when her mom’s boring new boyfriend tags along. After they arrive at her dad’s cabin, a poacher kidnaps her dad’s ice-breathing dragon, revealing her dad's secret role protecting magical creatures and thrusting the family into a high-stakes rescue mission. Along the way, Zadie begins to rethink her relationships with both her father and her mom’s boyfriend.  Dragonborn Written by Struan Murrya New York, NY : Dutton Children's Books, 2025. Fiction. 320 pgs. Dragonborn  follows 1...

Dog Man Read Alikes

Dog Man  is a popular graphic novel for middle graders all about the adventures of a half-man, half-dog police officer. With 14 books in the series, many readers can't get enough of these hilarious stories! If your child is looking for more books like Dog Man, here are some great options to try out.  Dex Dingo: World's Best Greatest Ever... Inventor By Greg Foley Los Angeles: Disney-Hyperion, 2024. Comic. 157 pages.  Dex Dingo doesn't know what he wants to do when he grows up. His classmates all seem to know, but he just doesn't feel like he is the BEST at anything. When a class assignment challenges him to figure out what he wants to be, he decides he wants to become the world's best ever inventor! Filled with beautifully drawn spreads and kid-approved humor, this book is sure to please any Dog Man fan.  Troubling Tonsils Written by Aaron Reynolds Illustrated by Peter Brown  New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. Fiction. 71 pages.  ...