by Liz Allen

Created on: December 01, 2008

It might seem a strange combination, but a bagpiping Cat, a Squirrel with a banjo and a small singing Duck live together, seemingly in harmony, in a little house in a wood. We first see them through the window, have great fun together.

Their diet consists mainly of pumpkin soup homemade, of course. Each has a particular task in the process: Cat slices the pumpkin, Squirrel stirs in the water and Duck tips in just enough salt. This never changes. There appears to be domestic bliss as they slurp their soup, play their song and cuddle up in bed with a quilt made by a joint effort. But the fact that duck still has his eyes open in bed gives us a clue that there is a current of dissatisfaction beneath the calm surface.

Duck has aspirations to be Head Cook, so one day he gets up early and makes the spoon hanging on the wall fall with his beak 'KER-PLONK! Down it clattered'. In the bedroom Duck announces that it is his turn to stir the soup. A huge row ensues as the others don't want to change the way they do things. Signs and symbols in the illustration suggest that they are shouting unrepeatable words.

Duck packs his things in a barrow and leaves. Cat and Squirrel are initially angry but sure he will return. Duck, however, doesn't come for breakfast or lunch. Cat watches the door and Squirrel paces the floor until soup-time. The soup they make without Duck is too salty; they're not hungry and tears drip into the soup. The picture on this page shows Squirrel looking at his tearful reflection in his spoon. Realising they should have let Duck stir, they decide to go and look for him.

Searching the scary dark woods, Cat and Squirrel fear for Duck alone with foxes, wolves, witches and bears. They are afraid he fell over a cliff edge, but Squirrel finds nothing when he climbs down a rope to see. Duck, they think, may have found some better friends who allowed him to help the picture here shows mice and birds queueing up at Duck's well-lit soup kiosk. They head for home, and I can assure you that the story ends happily, except that Duck wants to have a go on the bagpipes after supper...

The text is well broken up with charming little illustrations that I can imagine may appeal more to some young children than the pictures that take up full pages. Most parents will delight in these, I'm sure. The pumpkin, Squirrel and the quilt are all painted in warm, orangey-brown tones that give a cosy feel in contrast to the scenes of the wood where scary creatures and witches threaten the

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