On the far side of the pond, near the open field, there lived a family of ducks.
These ducks were no ordinary ducks,
NO, NO, NO.
These ducks lived in a house, a tiny house by the shore.
Mama duck and daddy duck, they were so in love, they had three little ducklings, Marsha, Dewey, and Arnold.
Marsha was the eldest, she was the wise one. She wore glasses and loved reading big fat books. Dewey was the middle child, he had lots of friends. Frogs, toads, beavers, everyone in the pond loved him.
Arnold was the youngest, he was the naughty one. He was always late for school in morning, he never woke up on time.
Mama duck and daddy duck, they spoiled their kids rotten.
They loved their children and would do anything for them.
Arnold was adventurous, he liked to explore the pond, One day he met a crocodile, and he was fascinated. The crocodile was hungry, so he pretended to be nice.
? e m a n r u What’s yo Arnold asked.
Come closer and I’l
l tell you,
the crocodile replied.
Arnold got closer and closer and closer, he was so amazed by the crocodile’s skin.
All of a sudden, the crocodile opened its mouth and almost ate little Arnold.
Arnold swam away as fast as he could, screaming
“Wow, that was so cool!” Arnold couldn’t wait to tell his parents about his adventure that night.
At the dinner table, daddy duck and mama duck asked the kids about their days. Marsha told them about her science fair. Dewey told them about his softball game. “How boring,” Arnold thought. “Wait until they hear my story.”
, y d d a d , y m m Mo a y b n e t a e t o I almost g ay. d o t e l i d o c o r c
Arnold’s mommy and daddy were in shock.
“WHAT, WHEN, HOW?” they said. “What do you mean?”
“I went to the other side of the pond, I was swimming really fast, and then all of a sudden...
I saw him. He was so big. And green. And scaly. It was so cool!�
Arnold’s parents didn’t like this. They were worried about him. So they told him to finish his dinner and to go to his room. “No more adventures for, young man,” said Mama duck. “You need to learn to be safe.”
Arnold went to his room, he didn’t know what he had done wrong. I just want to have a little fun, he thought. This house is so boring.
While Arnold was dreaming that night he slipped away to another adventure where he met lots of other animal friends.
He met monkeys, giraffes, lions, and all types of animals that belonged to a zoo!
He met nice, mean, sad, and silly animals. Some animals scared him and some animals wanted to be his best friend.
Arnold made a very dear friend that night that was another duck just like him!
The duck told him how Arnold should go back home because his mama duck, daddy duck, and brothers and sisters missed him.
Arnold woke up back in his bed and was glad to be home safe in his warm cozy bed.
This book was produced in the fall of 2014 at St. Norbert College, in DePere, WI. This book is a collaboration between design and teacher education students. The cover is typeset in Simplicity and A Gentle Touch, and the body text is typeset in Garamond. It was digitally printed by the college print center. All illustrations were digitally produced by Katie Campshure.