Why the Duck is an Ass

Too many people make the mistake of thinking that children’s books are all the same, that they preach a common theme and align themselves perfectly with what’s true and right, teaching kids the value of human nature and the beauty of our world. But our world is oftentimes not beautiful, and human nature is frequently negative and judgmental. So often we shield our children from these realities in favor of the cookie cutter “perfect world” we ourselves would desperately like to live in, hiding the rough spots as much as we can with spit and polish, not thinking about how shocking it will be to our kids when the truth comes out. And believe me, it will come out. Now, I’m not saying tell your kids everything about the cruel world and cruel people, but just having a heads up would suffice sometimes instead of a brick over the head. Some children’s books give that heads up while also teaching a lesson. Those are the kind I get for my kids.

Duck in the Truck is a children’s book written by Jez Alborough that I bought when I was in London. It appealed to me because of the cute picture of the duck driving a truck on the cover, but it proved itself to be a true compass for human nature as I sat in the huge comfy chair and read it over several times. Now, I’m sure you’re familiar with the idea of using cute, cuddly animals to sell something. Hell, Disney was founded on it and still thrives to this day because of a mouse, a bear, and a sheer cadre of other wildlife. But what I found in this book wasn’t a straight morality tale like Disney is so fond of, but a story plainly told and illustrated that makes its adult readers think and might just confuse or amuse the younger readers.

It’s a tale of a duck who drives a truck down a lane, plain and simple. However, this duck loses control of his vehicle and it becomes stuck in a pretty nasty muck. Look at the duck’s face in the page pictured. Does he look like one of those pleasant animals I talked about above? No. In fact, he’s pretty pissed off, in my opinion, and probably ticked off mostly at himself for driving so recklessly. With the angle of the vehicle in the muck, it’s really a surprise to me that he didn’t fall out and do some serious damage to himself, so he should actually be thanking his lucky stars instead of being angry at the vehicle. Luckily for him he has some random strangers come by to try and help him get unstuck from the muck.

First, a frog who has been spying from the bushes decides he will help. Now, I think too many people gloss over the fact that this frog was spying from the bushes and focus too much on how he is trying to be helpful. To me, though, when strangers are spying from the bushes, that means they want to do me harm. Just saying. So, when the frog comes over to help I think maybe he has an ulterior motive in mind, such as maybe stealing the truck once it’s out of the muck or taking the duck’s wallet before he drives away. The frog does seem kind of shifty just in the way that we meet him. Then there’s the sheep in the jeep who stops when he sees the duck and frog trying to push the truck out of the muck. His fancy jeep, of course, can drive right through the muck without getting stuck, but he’s a good samaritan type who thinks he is helping the little people by giving of his time and energy to assist in the efforts.

Of course he too gets stuck in the muck once he’s out of his jeep, which shows us that trying to help others just gets us dirty and aggravated. You can tell by the faces of the three animals that they are not having a pleasant time, that they’re all upset, and obviously that doesn’t help their success rate as the truck is still stuck fast in the muck. If this wasn’t bad enough, another do-gooder arrives on the scene and thinks he can help where the others have failed. It’s the ubiquitous goat in the motorboat, who was enjoying a relaxing float on the lake, with his legs kicked up and his face serene. So, why does he stop to help out the others? I can only guess that seeing a duck, a frog, and a sheep knee-deep in mud was too hilarious to pass up getting a closer look. The expression on his face is priceless, like he won some bet.

However, just like his predecessors on the scene, the goat is also soon up to his neck in some serious muck, and I bet you he wishes he had just stayed on his motorboat, watching and laughing at the others struggling on the shore. But they’re showing the readers the true value of teamwork, right? None of them is having a good time, but they’re doing their civil deed, trying their hardest to help a fellow animal who was down on his luck (which rhymes with duck… and truck too, come to think of it). They struggle against vast odds until finally the truck moves suddenly, but one of them was prepared for the change in fortunes — our protagonist, Mr. Duck. He quickly hops in the truck as it’s pulling away from the muck, guns the engine, and sprays his erstwhile new friends with even more muck, waving to them as he drives off.

And I swear he’s laughing in that final illustration, a sort of “see you, suckers,” as he leaves them stuck… in the muck. The frog is standing there fuming, as you can clearly tell, probably wishing he had been faster in reaching for that wallet on the front seat, or hopping (ha ha) into the truck himself and driving away with it. The sheep is just bemoaning the fact that his freshly washed white wool is now ruined and needs another washing, and the goat is imagining what his day would have been like if he had never seen the others on the shore, all of them in their own way despondent and angry. Imagine that, just what the duck himself had been just about an hour before when he first got stuck in the muck. He has transferred his feelings to the other three, and now they are getting a taste of his displeasure.

While he’s back on the road feeling good about himself and about the world, not giving another thought to the good samaritans who helped him out of a tough spot. What a good buddy, huh? The moral of the story is that the duck is an ass who probably wouldn’t even stop if any of the others had been in a similar situation, and that you shouldn’t stop to help somebody else in need because it will always turn out poorly. Or maybe the author should have written another book about our heroes, entitled Frog, Sheep, and Goat Get Revenge, in which the other animals exact vengeance on the unwitting duck. Watch out, duck.

Sam