Fun, fun, fun ( )

Henry the Duck invites his friend Clara over for supper, but when he spies an ant in the kitchen, he fears she will think his house is not clean. So the ant has to go.

The unfolding story recounts Henry’s hilarious attempts to drive the offending ant out of his house. Delightful illustrations accompany this uproarious story that will entertain readers both young and old.

Highly recommended. ( )

This book is included in a series that all center around Henry, the “disaster-prone duck.” I liked this book because of the story’s plot. “Henry’s Awful Mistake” starts off with Henry cooking a dinner for a date that has not yet arrived. When Henry see’s an ant in the kitchen he decides that he mist kill it. The author creates suspense and leads to the climax by making the reader wonder what Henry will destroy next in the process of trying to terminate the tricky ant. For example, first Henry creates a crack in his wall by trying to hit the ant with a hammer, and then the crack turns into a whole and quickly after that Henry accidently cracks a pipe that begins to leak. The climax of the book is when the whole house becomes flooded wand washes Henry right out of his house. The author then ties the beginning and the end of the book by showing the return of the ant while Henry is preparing for a date in his new home.
The bid idea of this book focuses on problem and solution. Henry’s problem was that there was an ant in his kitchen but his solution was flawed and unreasonable. This may provoke readers to think about alternative ways to solving this problem. ( )

Bibliographic Information: Robert Quackenhush, “Henry’s Awful Mistake”, Illustrated by Robert Ouackenhush, Published by Parents Magazine Press, ©1980, 35 pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary: Henry is trying to rid his kitchen of ant before his dinner guest showed up. He tore up his kitchen and broke a pipe which caused his house to flood so he had to move. When he moved he saw another ant but didn’t do anything about it.
Tags: Learning experience, funny, bugs
My Response: I think this picture book is a very good learning experience. Henry lost his house because of a little ant. If he had just done nothing then he wouldn’t of made a huge mess and caused his house to flood.

This is such a great book about a Duck who is trying to cook a nice meal for his friend Clara. While he is cooking, he sees an ant and tries to kill it. He keeps missing and ends up destroying everything in the process of trying to kill a tiny ant. This story is about making mistakes and the consequences of those mistakes. This is a good book for children because it deals with real issues in a humorous way that they will understand. ( )