DUCKS DISAPPEARING

In the courtyard of the motel where Willie and his mother are staying, a mother duck and eleven ducklings are poking around. Make that ten ducklings—no, nine—"Something bad was happening to the ducklings, and it was happening very fast." Willie is worried but the adults—his mother, a waitress, a clerk, a bellhop, and a janitor—pay no attention. Told from the child's point of view, the story builds tension well and comes to a satisfying climax when Willie discovers that the ducklings have been slipping into a storm drain and are trapped. In a loud voice he demands help from the adults, and he gets it. While some of the pictures are soft and bland, Maddox's cartoonish style works well in a scene of the ducklings gazing up through the grate of the drain at Willie. An agreeable story from Naylor (Shiloh Season, p. 1053, etc.) that, though not her strongest work, makes some nice points about paying attention and getting help when it's essential. (Picture book. 5-8)