Lulu and the Duck in the Park

Hilary McKay's Lulu and the Duck in the Park is a warm animal story for 7 year olds about a girl who hides a duck egg up her jumper at school.

What happens

Lulu is famous for animals. A dog, rabbits, a parrot, mice and a whole Snail World at the end of the garden. Her mum's rule is the more the merrier (as long as Lulu does the cleaning up).

Her teacher, Mrs Holiday, likes animals best when they're a LONG way off. After Lulu's old dog Sam follows her into class one day, Mrs Holiday lays down the law. One more visiting animal and the class guinea pig gets swapped for Class Two's stick insects.

Then comes swimming day. On the walk back through the town park, two huge dogs run wild along the lake and wreck the ducks' nests. When it's all over, one blue egg is rolling down the bank from where Lulu's favourite white-winged duck had hers. Lulu pops it in her pocket. It's still warm.

So now she's got an egg, a teacher who has banned animals, and a whole school day to get through. What could possibly go wrong?

It's SUCH good fun from there. Lulu makes a nest out of two borrowed woolly hats and waddles back to class with it stuffed under her jumper. Her cousin and best friend Mellie turns out to be the perfect partner in crime, a human shield in the lunch queue and a fellow quacker. (A library book says ducklings learn their mum's voice from inside the egg, so the girls quack to it just in case.)

Class Three is a brilliant little crowd too. Charlie's nose bleeds at the slightest excuse (and he loves every minute). And Mrs Holiday, all icy-blue glares, turns out to have a few surprises of her own.

It's the American edition, so your reader will meet Mom, cookies and math along the way. Most children won't even notice.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The dog scene in the park is upsetting for a moment. Nests are trampled, eggs are smashed on the path, ducklings are lost and some of the class cry. Nobody is shown dying, and Mrs Holiday tells them the ducks are not all dead.

If your child gets very upset about animals being hurt, that page might sting. But it's over quickly, and the rest is all about Lulu trying to put one small thing right.

What to read next

If they fall for Lulu and Mellie, Lulu and the Cat in the Bag has the two cousins together again, with Nan in charge of the house and a mystery bag on the doorstep that turns out to be snoring.