Twins Hue and Hoa are excited for the May Day parade! While waiting at the park for the parade to begin, they spot a little duck who seems new to the neighborhood-and looks confused by the crowd and commotion. How can the twins help the duck get to the pond? Many friends from the neighborhood stop to say hello and offer suggestions. Teamwork, collective brainstorming, and the duck's own inspiration finally help it reach its new home-with an entire community welcoming it with a parade!
A celebration of a vibrant, multicultural neighborhood that warmly welcomes newcomers from near and far, this story also encourages communal problem-solving and offers a gentle reminder of the deportation fears many children and families face.
"On their way to the May Day parade, children come across a strange and colorful duck. What is it? Where did it come from? Hoa and Hue enlist the help of friends as they try to get the duck to the pond, its new home. But suddenly they are surrounded by people - they're in the middle of the parade! In his third children's book, Minneapolis poet Bao Phi writes about teamwork, collaboration and acceptance as neighbors welcome and protect the new and strange duck. Illustrations by MBD (an abbreviation for a name, the artist notes, that "does not even fit on the first page of his passport") show joy, diversity and - as a police car rolls through - apprehension. A glossary translates the many languages quoted in this wise book.
heed."
