The duck soon gets fed up with this and rally's all his farmyard friends together to think of a plan. This was another book that I read with the Reception class I worked with during SEB as one of their core texts.

Reading the story again and again helps children to read more of the story themselves and builds their confidence in books and reading. Read the story again, this time leaving spaces for children to join in with the repeated phrases and animal noises.Furthermore, the additional activities that you could use related to the story as well are also endless - for example, the children could dress up as characters from the story and role-play parts of it, or we did a carpet session where the children thought of some fun activities for Farmer Duck to do if he had a day off - they really enjoyed this session and used their imagination well to come up with some fantastic ideas. The story is a good one of a farmer who gets lazy when he learns he can send his duck to do all his work but the other animals of the farm aren’t happy with this turn of events and decide to do something about it.

Quack”’ is the only dialogue apart from Moo, Baa and Cluck when the animals have united to evict the farmer and help Farmer Duck with the work. All the hoeing, gardening, taking care of the other animals, ironing, washing dishes, cooking are really wearing Duck down. While the duck worked, the farmer lay in bed - until one day the other animals decided to take action! It may not be commonly recognised by children that a duck is female; but unless this is appreciated the feminist message of this picture book will be lost.However it shows team work and support, and the inside back cover has the same picture but in brighter more positive colours, making us happy with the ending. Two are multiple choice questions, and the other two challenge children to answer through writing in full sentences. Look together at the pictures in the two endpaper spreads showing the view of the fields and farm on the hill in the distance. Young children can join in and it could also be a fantastic tool for circle time: talk about emotions, team work, hard work etc. This story could also be used during a circle time perhaps to encourage the children to think about being a good friend and the sorts of qualities you would expect to find in a good friend.

This is a lovely tale of friendship which tells the story of a poor duck who does all the work on the farm and acts as a slave for the lazy farmer. The illustrations are fantastic and it isn't any wonder this book got awarded Illustrated book of the year. Eventually, the other animals decide to do something to help Farmer Duck and they do this by sharing the jobs out equally among themselves. They could work together or individually to sequence the cards and use them to support retelling the story.The nature of the story ensures that all children can have a role to play - there is no limit to how many cows, hens and sheep can be on a farm!

They loved the duck dearly and they were very upset that he was being taken advantage of by the farmer. Although it may lead to an obsession with the Harvest Moon franchise and an unrealistic life dream of living on a farm that looks after itself. I read this book to a Reception class who thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the pictures and repeating the sounds and phrases that the Farmer Duck and the Farmer made.

I feel this book is aimed at EYFS/KS1 due to the use of repetition and sounds (A great tool to potentially develop phonics! It teaches the lesson that your friends are always there to help you and that working together can help everyone.