What could be more fun for three young ducks than a day at the pond? In Jane Francis’s story Quack Along with Zack, Mack, and Jack, the three ducks are thrilled when the farmer lets them out for the day. They have so much fun at the pond, but when another two ducks appear, they’re not sure what to do. They consult among themselves and decide that two more ducks will make the day so much more fun, even though they’re different. All is well until one of the new ducks gets caught in the weeds and a fox appears. Can the ducks band together to scare away the fox and rescue the trapped duck?

Jane Francis’s picture book Quack Along with Zack, Mack, and Jack is a fun read, full of new words for young readers to learn as they improve their reading skills. Children will love all the words relating to sounds. Onomatopoeia is used effectively and with flair as the author incorporates rhyming or similar-sounding sound words like “bubble, blurb, babble” and “splat, splash, splatter.” This is a simple story about friendship and the acceptance of others regardless of any differences, which is always a valuable lesson to learn. There are other things this story teaches, like counting, as readers quack along. The illustrations are bright, bold, and colorful and will help teach children the differences between the various types of ducks. There is also a short information paragraph to discuss these. There is lots of duck fun in this little treasure of a book.

 - Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford