Can I Join Your Club? by John Kelly and Steph Laberis
Duck just wants to join a club. Any club would be fine, but he would really like to be a part of something, so he tries the Lion Club, and the Snake Club, and even Club Elephant, but it seems like duck won't ever fit in anywhere…
| Can I Join Your Club? by John Kelly and Steph Laberis | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Cliques can cause problems throughout your whole life, so it's good to address the issue from an early age and celebrate diversity and acceptance in a light and humourous way! | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: March 2017 |
| Publisher: Little Tiger Press | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781848694361 | |
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I was just chatting with some friends last night about childhood cliques, and how hard it can be to fit in. There are some very specific groups that you are either part of, or you're not, and there don't seem to be many grey areas for those who don't particularly belong in one or the other. So I thought this book was a great way for very small children to see that diversity and acceptance of others is a good thing, through the medium of a funny picture book. We see Duck looking for a club that he can join, and although he approaches the Lion Club, and the snake club, and club elephant he finds that each time his application to join is denied. Poor duck. He tries hard to fit in each time, with a mane-like wig for lion club, and some sunglasses for snake club, but even so he fails at looking like and sounding like the animal in question and so he fails to join each club in turn.
Thankfully Duck is undefeated, and instead of joining someone else's club he decides to set up his own club. Although it starts out being called Duck Club he soon changes the name to 'Our Club', and whenever anyone asks if they want to join, their applications are loudly approved! You can probably imagine what happens - soon everyone wants to join 'our club' and everyone is very happy to be in the same club together just having a lot of fun.
The idea is a simple one, but it subtly gives a very important message. Friendships don't have to be with someone who is exactly the same as you, and having lots of different friends is a very good thing indeed! There's a lot of shouting through the book, if you choose to read it aloud in that way, since you get to deny a lot of club applications very loudly, and attempt some loud animal noises along the way too! The text is easy to read and follow, and is supported well by the lovely, bright illustrations. Duck has a bit of a madcap look to him, which makes him an endearing little character. I also liked elephant very much, especially when he demonstrates what an elephant trumpet should sound like, and he takes an enormously deep breath and then trumpets so loudly that his chess set goes flying, his books are knocked asunder, and even poor duck gets blown over!
This is a fun book to read, and its gentle but important message is definitely a good one to share!
Further reading suggestion: You might also enjoy this friendship story It's a Groovy World, Alfredo! by Sean Taylor and Chris Garbutt or for more duck delights try Fix-It Duck by Jez Alborough which can still make me laugh out-loud, even after multiple reads!
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You can read more book reviews or buy Can I Join Your Club? by John Kelly and Steph Laberis at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Can I Join Your Club? by John Kelly and Steph Laberis at Amazon.com.
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