Duck and Penguin Do Not Like Sleepovers

K-Gr 2–Best friends Betty and Maud love sleepovers. However, their stuffed animals, Duck and Penguin, do not. As the girls prepare their backyard campsite with delighted smiles, Duck and Penguin oversee their efforts with respective gloom. Once they are all in their pajamas and dressed for bed, the girls drink a bit too much soda, and have to return to the house to use the bathroom, leaving Duck and Penguin alone outside. The stuffed animals begin to follow the girls to the house, but are quickly frightened by all the scary sights and sounds outside, and retreat back to the tent where they are discovered in the morning looking somewhat traumatized in the clutches of the cat. The girls, who had spent the night sleeping peacefully in the house, are convinced that Duck and Penguin have had the best night ever. Hand-painted and digitally colored illustrations depict the characters and settings in a cartoon-like style. Betty is pale white, while Maud has brown skin. The text describing the girls’ clueless behavior is juxtaposed with comically grumpy stuffed animals.