Title: A Duck Called Brian
Author:/Illustrator Al Murphy
Published By: Scholastic Press 2021

I’m not sure I’ve ever told you guys this, but I love ducks. Like, really love. As in, when I see them at a park or by the pond near our house, I literally crouch down and quack at them, hoping they’ll come closer. Sure, they usually look the other way and/or hide their faces due to second-hand embarrassment, but whatever. I’m not going to stop. It’s who I am.

Anyway, when my kids were at the Scholastic Book Fair at their school, they spotted A Duck Called Brian and they knew I must have it. They understand my love of ducks and we’ve all made a secret pact that if the opportunity ever arises, we’ll own a duck and not tell Karl.

Which, you know, will be tricky. How to explain a third, feathered daughter? How to convince Karl it’s maybe some kind of dog breed he’s unfamiliar with? Those are the kinks we have to work out, but that’s a problem for future Jess.

Current Jess is going to tell you all about the book!

It all starts with Brian, a blue duck* Brian is, obviously, quite unique. He has a few likes, including but not limited to milk, Duck Nuts cereal and his best bud, Gregory.

Unfortunately for Brian, his day gets off to a rocky start when he realizes he’s out of Duck Nuts and milk. So, he decides to find Gregory and complain about it to him. (Hey, that’s what besties are for, right?)

Sadly, Gregory is nowhere in sight. Well, nowhere in Brian’s sight. Clever readers will be able to spot Gregory right away — he’s in a hot air balloon, behind the fence, flying an airplane, in a vase, in a crowd…and…well, you get the idea. He’s everywhere, but Brian just doesn’t see him. Brian DOES see other ducks having a blast, but he doesn’t join in on any of the fun. He is a duck on a mission: find Gregory.

Just as Brian is at the end of his rope, he discovers something: a magic door. He goes through it (somewhat accidentally) and ends up in a strange world of magical pink characters (a frog, a crocodile, a snail, anthropomorphic milk). They offer him a free wish — anything he wants!

Brian makes his wish and…it turns out to be exactly what he’d been hoping to find all day. (Spoiler alert: it’s Gregory…but not JUST Gregory!)

The art in this book is super-cute. The simplicity reminds me of Elise Gravel’s work a little bit. The colours are vibrant, and Brian is adorable.

If you’re looking for a good book about friendship, this is one to check out. Also, if you just happen to be obsessed with ducks, you’ll be delighted by this story.

• I just realized: I’m kind of obsessed with blue ducks. There was one episode of Pokémon where Psyduck (my favourite Pokémon) was blue and I’ve been looking for a figurine/card/sticker/something to prove he really existed in that form ever since. (NB: Lily says it was ‘shiny’ Psyduck, but…he looked blue to me).