Shining Willow Nominee

Have You Ever Seen a Duck in a Raincoat?

By Etta Kaner, Illustrated by Jeff Szuc.

Kids Can Press, 2009.
9781554532469

Currently2.39906103286/5 Stars
1
2
3
4
5

Rated by: 426 users

Click on the stars above to rate this book

Comments (1)

In this funny, fact-filled book, young readers will discover ways in which animals have adapted to their environments in order to stay dry, keep cool, run fast and more. It compares people and animals in surprising and delightful ways, and brings a fresh approach to the study of animals.

About the Author

Etta Kaner

Etta Kaner writes for both children and educators. The majority of her children's books are non-fiction and have been translated into many languages. A number of her books have won awards, namely, the Silver Birch Award, the ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award, the Animal Behavior Society Award, the Scientific American Young Readers Book Award and the Science in Society Book Award.

While her earlier books were inspired by her two daughters, many of her later books have been inspired by the elementary school students that she teaches. Kaner feels that the most enjoyable part of writing non-fiction books is finding out about things that she doesn't already know. Her books cover a myriad of topics from the Animal Behavior series to her Exploring the Elements series to the Have You Ever Seen series.

About the Illustrator

Jeff Szuc

Visit the Illustrator's website

Chances are that at any given moment you can find Jeff Szuc either painting away in his studio, located in the lower west side of Toronto, or at the very least, sitting pensively by his studio window watching the world wander by while he thinks about what to paint next. Jeff Szuc has been painting for nearly half his life now. Somewhere around the middle of that time he went to the Ontario College of Art and Design where he received a degree for painting (accompanied by the very prestigious Gold Medal in Illustration) and from there went on to paint even bigger and better things. You can find Jeff's paintings in magazines and on book covers, on the internet, on gallery walls and even on the walls themselves, and of course you can find them in his books.

Visit the publisher's website, http://www.kidscanpress.com

Book Reviews

Teacher Resources

Activity # 1:

After Reading:

Use the pattern of the book to write about other animals. Eg. Have you ever seen a pig wear sunscreen? (they use mud). Have you ever seen a camel carry a water bottle? Have you ever seen a shark without teeth?

Activity # 2:

Anticipation Reaction Guide - Step 1: Before Reading: Choose one of the animals. Take three statements about that animal that are whacky but true. Then take two more statements from the same animal and make them into false statements. Step 2: Have the students, before reading, predict which are true and which are false. Step 3: After Reading: Have the students read the page and confirm their predictions. True or False

Before Reading True or False	Statements from the story. Some are true and some are false.	After Reading True or False
	1. Ducks have oil on their outer feathers.
	2. They pick up the oil with their feet from glands on their backs.
	3. Water beads up on their feathers and slides off because of the oil.
	4. Ducks use their beaks to spread the oil all over their body while smoothing their feathers.

The 2010 Willow Awards