The Sissy Duckling

Elmer is a duck who likes to paint pictures and tidy his room and cook. He doesn't want to play sports or build forts. His mother encourages him to be his special self but his father wants him to be like the other boy ducks. Papa Duck tells his son it's time to learn to play baseball and Elmer finds himself standing up to the plate swinging at pitches that fly into the catcher's glove. When the other ducks tell him he's out, he's relieved to walk away to do something he really likes. That night Elmer hears his own father calling him a Sissy. The next day at school he gets bullied by Drake Duck and has to run home as fast as he can when the school day is over so he can be safe. Feeling that he doesn't belong anywhere, Elmer decides to swim away from home and off he goes shedding a few tears. It is as the flock of ducks rises for their flight south that Elmer proves just how special he is. This is a wonderful picture book about accepting each other for our own specialness. Ages 4-8 40 pages