John Phillip Duck

Title: John Phillip Duck
Author and Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary:
This book tells the story of a young African American boy named Edward. Edward lives on a farm with his family during the time of the Great Depression. To make money young Edward works with his father at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. During the week both he and his father stay at the hotel but on the weekends they get to come home to their farm. One weekend while working in the field with his dad, Edward finds an abandoned baby duck. Edward takes the duck in and nurses it back to health. Since the young duck requires constant care Edward decides to bring him to the hotel with him during the week. The duck quickly becomes loved by the hotel's staff. With the staff's help Edward manages to keep his pet a secret from the hotel's manager, Mr. Schutt. One day however Mr. Schutt discovers Edwards secret. Read this story to find out how Edward convinces Mr. Schutt to let him keep his pet.

Making the Connection:
Though this book is fiction parts of it are actually based on history. In 1933 the Peabody Hotel did become home to a group of ducks. These ducks, along with a bellman named Edward Pembroke started a tradition at the hotel that still occurs today. I think that students would love reading this book and researching the books historical roots. This book would be a great choice to read to your class when introducing the Great Depression. You could also use this book to teach a lesson on making predictions. Before reading the book with your class you could have your students write down three predictions about the story based on the pictures. After reading the story you caould have your students compare and contrast their predictions to what actually happened in the book.