Duck Daycare? Henry Babysits by Robert Quackenbush

HENRY THE DUCK WAS ENJOYING A QUIET DAT AT HOME WHEN THE DOORBELL RANG. IT WAS HENRY'S FRIEND CLARA WITH HER BABY NEPHEW. "WOULD YOU MIND BABYSITTING FOR MY NEPHEW?" SHE ASKED. "IT'S EASY. IT'S MY NEPHEW'S NAPTIME, AND HE WILL BE FAST ASLEEP.

Henry wasn't sure he knew much about babysitting but he agreed to help Clara out. He put the sleeping baby on the sofa and went back to his easy chair and his newspaper. But not for long! Ding Dong! goes the doorbell.

But not for long. His next door neighbor has noticed Henry is babysitting for Clara. She drops in to leave her kitten, who begins to cry as soon as she leaves. Henry is fretting about the crying waking Clara's nephew, so when another neighbor comes by, asking to leave her baby Amanda there, Henry agrees when he sees Amanda's bottle full of milk. He pours some of Amanda's milk into a little bowl which makes the kitty happy. By this time, Amanda clearly needs a diaper change. But then the doorbell rings again.

Henry’s impromptu Duckie Daycare seems to be popular, as a mother monkey drops off her rambunctious toddler and a diaper bag, remarking that he may soon need a diaper change. Henry diapers Amanda and the monkey, just as another neighbor stops off to deliver her young puppy. Henry readily agrees to babysit the neighbor's young puppy because he comes with a bagful of toys and a ball. Henry tosses the toddlers the toys and they proceed to wreck the room with their rambunctious play. Finally, worn out, they fall asleep amid the toys all over the floor. Henry's living room is a mess when the parents come back for their little ones.

But Clara's nephew is still sleeping soundly on the sofa when she returns for him.

"You see, Henry," said Clara, "babysitting is easy!"

Robert Quackenbush’s new edition of Henry Babysits (Henry Duck) (Aladdin, 2020) has all the droll humor of the veteran author’s other picture books, as Henry’s babysitting problems increase exponentially with each added client. For more fun with the neighbors, share this one with Cynthia Rylant’s Scholastic Reader Level 3: Poppleton In Winter (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).