Duck With The Puck

Take to the ice with a fowl who can fly for a fun story of hockey in the hinterland!

Puck Platypus explores downstream, hoping to meet his neighbors. He finds that they are not all nice, especially to ducks. "I'm no duck," says Puck, but Puck has never seen a duck before. What about them is so bad? He must find out! One neighbor reveals that he too suffers a mistaken identity. Leonard, the legless lizard tells Puck that kindness is more important than looks. Finally, an owl, Booker, leads Puck to the lake where he meets a duck and a new friend.

Meet the one and only Duddle Puck, a plucky duck who does anything but quack in this picture book from New York Times bestselling duo Karma Wilson and Marcellus Hall that is anything but stereotypical. Everyone knows that ducks quack, right? Well, everyone except Duddle Puck, a puddle duck who just won’t quack. Duddle Puck just loves to make all sorts of barnyard sounds as he jigs around the farm. He can cluck, honk, oink, and neigh with the best of them. But quack? Nope. The other barnyard animals think there’s no room on a farm for a duck that won’t behave like a duck. Yet as they try to teach Duddle Puck be a proper duck, they may just find that their rules aren’t all they’re “quacked” up to be.

One of hockeyÕs most colourful characters, from hockeyÕs most colourful era, tells all Gilles Gratton was not a typical pro hockey player. He refused to don his equipment and man his net if the planets were not properly aligned. He skated naked at practice. He created one of hockeyÕs most famous goalie masks based on his astrological sign. He fought with coaches and management, speaking his mind to his detriment. Sex, drugs, and rock ÕnÕ roll ruled his life, not stopping pucks. Truthfully? He never really wanted to be an NHL goaltender; he wanted to be Tibetan monk. And so, he quit hockey to seek enlightenment. Now, in his autobiography, Gratton teams up with author Greg Oliver to tell his wild and at times, yes, loony story: from his early days in Montreal, where his brother Norm Gratton became an NHL player, too; through his stints with the OHAÕs Oshawa Generals, the Ottawa Nationals and Toronto Toros of the rogue WHA, and the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers in the NHL.

One dog . . . SO many ducklings! In this laugh-out-loud picture book that explores the meaning of family, Ralph the dog unexpectedly becomes the new dad to a flock of ducklings, and soon realizes he’s bitten off more than he can chew! Ralph the dog enjoyed a quiet life . . . until the day he stumbles across an egg. Surely the best thing for him to do is ignore it and walk right on by. But, CRACK! The egg hatches, then and there. What's inside? A cute and fluffy little duckling searching for a parent. And though Ralph isn't sure he wants a duckling, the duckling is definitely sure it wants Ralph! As does the very excitable, very loud, and very large flock of ducklings in the nearby field. . . Filled with heart, hilarity, and adorably raucous ducklings, Lorna Scobie's Duck, Duck, Dad is a celebration of love and community that is perfect for all families, big and small--and fans of Mother Bruce, Harry the Dirty Dog, and Gaston.

Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year A revelatory tale of science, adventure, and modern myth. When the writer Donovan Hohn heard of the mysterious loss of thousands of bath toys at sea, he figured he would interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, and read up on Arctic science and geography. But questions can be like ocean currents: wade in too far, and they carry you away. Hohn's accidental odyssey pulls him into the secretive world of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories. Moby-Duck is a journey into the heart of the sea and an adventure through science, myth, the global economy, and some of the worst weather imaginable. With each new discovery, Hohn learns of another loose thread, and with each successive chase, he comes closer to understanding where his castaway quarry comes from and where it goes. In the grand tradition of Tony Horwitz and David Quammen, Moby-Duck is a compulsively readable narrative of whimsy and curiosity.

Professional hockey enforcers—popularly known as “goons”—finally get their due in this rollicking look at the players who have perfected the art of making mayhem. Whether they are called upon to duke it out with a fellow troublemaker or intimidate an opponent’s top scorer, these are the men who get the crowds to their feet, the sports radio shows buzzing, and the TV audience spilling their beers in excitement. Old timers like Joe Hall and Red Horner are profiled here, along with legendary heavy hitters Tiger Williams, Stu Grimson, and Bob Probert, fan favorites Tie Domi and Georges Laroque, and contemporary hockey stars Arron Asham and Brian McGrattan. The book also delves into the intense debate over the issue of violence on the ice as well as the personal and professional dramas of the NHL’s bad boys: the suspensions, the concussions, and the constant controversy of their role in the game.