This is an adorable book. The story opens with a little boy who talks about how very badly he wants a pet, and of all the pets, a dog is the best pet of all. It is fun, cuddly and it plays with you. So the boy puts outs an ad in the paper for a dog to be his pet. Far away, a duck who lives on a hill-top is very lonely. He reads the ad in the news paper and decides he will try to be the perfect pet for this boy. He disguises himself as a dog and goes to meet his new owner. When he gets there the boy is overjoyed to finally have a dog all his own and takes it out to play immediately. He notices however that his dog isn't really good at doing regular doggy things such as play fetch or run around and soon the duck is revealed for who he truly is. The boy is somewhat dismayed to learn that his dog was in fact a duck and goes inside. The duck is of course heart-broken and dejectedly goes in to find the boy reading a book, the encyclopedia. The boy looked up what ducks can do and made a list of all of the good things about ducks and tells the duck that he is the perfect pet for him. And they're both happy.
This story is adorable. The illustrations are so cute and they compliment the story line so well. The story is about seeing the good in what you have and what comes your way, even if it's not exactly as you expected it, and it's told in a way that makes it a touching read for both young and old.
