Official Review: Winnie and Tate by Nancy L. Crinklaw

[Juliana_Isabella]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Winnie and Tate" by Nancy L. Crinklaw.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Winnie and Tate by Nancy L. Crinklaw is a children’s chapter book about two ducks who come to live with a new human family. Emma is a babysitter for three human children who received two baby ducklings as an Easter gift. Fed up with caring for both the children and the ducks, Emma calls a friend, hoping to find a new home for Winnie and Tate. Winnie’s friend Rachel finds a new home for the ducks at her house, where there is a big pond for the ducks to swim in. The book chronicles Winnie’s and Tate’s adventures with the family, pond, and other wildlife.

I enjoyed how the book included both the humans’ and the animals’ perspectives. The reader gets to see Emma’s frustration, Winnie’s worrying, and Big Kitty’s protectiveness over the two ducks. This made me develop a connection with each character, even those that only appeared for a chapter or two.

Although I enjoyed how each chapter told an interesting, short story, I don’t think that the overall plot of the book was very interesting. Some chapters involve fun elements, like Tate learning to fly, or suspense, like when the ducks are being hunted by a fox. However, the story as a whole lacks an overarching plot, with the basic idea being that the ducks are living in a new place and learning about their surroundings. I wish that the end of the story had been more surprising or interesting in order to measure up to each of the chapters.

Overall, I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Each of the chapters told a fun story, but the plot as a whole fell flat. On a positive note, the writing appeared to be professionally edited, as I found no grammatical errors. I also enjoyed the adorable drawings by Joanne M. Langston, the book’s illustrator.

I would recommend this book to parents of children ages 5 to 9. Since each chapter has its own plot, this would also make a good bedtime story for parents to read out loud to younger children, one chapter at a time.

******
Winnie and Tate
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Deprise Evans]

This sounds like such a cute book! It's a shame however that the plot seemed to be lacking. However, this seems like a book that holds some fun cute stories that any small child would enjoy nonetheless. Thanks for your great review!

[kmittag67]

Thank you for your informative review. Even though the plot is under-developed, it sounds like a good story to read to children. Children enjoy ducks and having both the humans and ducks perspective would be appealing to them. The cute drawings included in the book would be a plus for kids. Thanks again for a great review.