I Wish that I Had Duck Feet

 By Theo LeSieg

This isn't a bad book.  I mean, the rhythm is pretty bad, but the subject matter makes up for it.  I also don't mind the made-up creature named the "Which What Who".

When I read it with my kids, though, I'm drawn to the subplot.  For me this is a book about bullying.

 This is Big Bill Brown.  He's sad in most of the pictures.  Here he is being left out of the fun while the protagonist enjoys a splash in the pond.

 Here he is, bereft that all of his friends are leaving him to play with the protagonist.

We're not supposed to feel that sorry for him, though; here he is tying the protagonist to a tree with his own tail.  But not until after the bratty little show off had finished parading around the school and town.

But these are all imagined events.  If the little blonde boy at the heart of our story is so preoccupied with teaching Big Bill a lesson, is it because big bill is a bully?  How much of a bully?  Is the situation simply resolved by the little boy going back to his normal life devoid of animal appendages?

I think we'll probably buy this book in the end.  There was a lot of disappointment expressed when we had to return it to the library.