Lemon the Duck Ends Up in the Library

by Roger Sinasohn (Subscribe to Roger Sinasohn's posts) Jan 1st 2009 4:00PM

Categories: Kids 5-7, That's Entertainment, Special Needs

Lemon The Duck, a new book by Laura Backman

What do you do when one of the ducks you hatched in your kindergarten class turns out to have a neurological disorder? You write a book about it, of course. Actually, it's not quite that simple. Laura Backman has taken care of Lemon the Duck for two years, ever since the webbed guy came out of his shell unable to balance.

Her new book, based on her experiences, teaches children to show compassion, to look for creative solutions to problems and that being different doesn't mean being less special. In real life, as in the book, Backman's students help care for the duck who now gets around in a specially-made harness -- that the kids helped devise.

Caring for Lemon means taking the duck with her everywhere and changing duck diapers six times a day. Backman, however, doesn't seem to care. "That's one of the things I'm trying to give her, is a ducky life, even though she can't live outside with the ducks," she explains. And that's a good lesson for the kids too. It sounds like Lemon is a good teacher and now, through the book, can share those lessons with children everywhere.

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