How Many Hatchlings? Ducks On The Road by Anita Lobel

It's a sparkling, sunny, spring morning. The trees are leafy and the flowers are blooming, and Mama and Papa Duck are proudly parading their new ducklings down the road to the pond. Then little ones trail their parents in a proper straight line...

... UNTIL, THE TENTH DUCKLING IN LINE TURNED BACK TO QUACK,

"HELLO, FROG!"

Unaware that one duckling has quit the queue, Mama and Papa march on, with nine ducklings in tow behind them.

And one by one, the rest of the ducklings also stop along the way to greet the animals they meet: first Frog, each duckling in turn stops to salute a newly-met neighbor--Mouse, Squirrel, Rabbit, Cat, Dog, Pig, Sheep, and Owl, and one surprise.

The tenth duckling turns around to greet--another duckling.

"HELLO, DUCK!" THEY SAID TO EACH OTHER.

And when Mama and Papa reach the pond and look back to introduce their TEN little ducks to their destination, they discover something surprising:

"OH, NO! OUR LITTLE DUCKS ARE GONE!"

"NO. HERE WE ARE!" QUACKED ELEVEN LITTLE DUCKS.

The suprised parents find more than they expect--nine new animals, furry, feathered, and amphibian, and especially one more duckling than they had counted on!

"ELEVEN DUCKS?" QUACKED PAPA.

"EVEN BETTER!" QUACKED MAMA.

And there's always room for one more duckling to splash into the pond, in the celebrated author-illustrator Anita Lobel's latest, Ducks on the Road: A Counting Adventure (Simon & Schuster, 2021). A Caldecott Medalist herself, Anita Lobel, part of a notable author-illustrator pair with her husband Arnold Lobel, creator of the famous Frog and Toad are Friends series and other notable picture books, has come up with a counting book filled with cute and curious ducklings and a surprise ending. Count on Anita Lobel for a picture book just right for the spring season, illustrated in her delightful artistic style that gives youngsters a chance to count ducklings and other familiar animals along the way. Anita Lobel's Caldecott Award went to her for her classic On Market Street and her charming story of how woolly sheep provide warm winter wear, A New Coat for Anna.