Why Ducks Sleep on One Leg, by Sherry Garland, Illustrated by Jean And Mou-Sien Tseng

            Through Vietnamese folklore and culture, this story explains why ducks naturally sleep standing on one leg. After creation, all of the animals were built well and were happy with how they were created. However, the ducks were doomed since they only had one leg. Because of this, they could barely walk, swim, or catch food. In order to get an additional leg, the ducks decided to petition the Jade Emperor who rules over the universe. After the help of a kind goose and rooster, the ducks decide to visit the village guardian who acts as an intercessor between the village and the Jade Emperor. Thành-Hoàng, the village guardian, refuses to intercede for the ducks and instead lets them use the extra golden legs from the incense burner. He warns the ducks to guard the golden legs from thieves. The ducks heed the warning from the guardian and sleep with the golden leg tucked under them. When ducks from other places see them sleeping this way, they imitate them since they find that it is comfortable. The tale says that to this day, ducks sleep with one leg because of the ducks from this village.

            This story would fit well in a second-grade classroom. The illustrations are vivid and the story has a quick enough pace to captivate second graders. Because the story incorporates aspects from Vietnamese culture, it would accompany a history lesson well. The book gives insight into religious beliefs since the setting takes place right after creation and involves deities and intercessors. At the beginning of the book, the author describes some aspects of life in Vietnamese villages, and this introduces new vocabulary. For example, a “dinh” is a meeting place for the village community where the village guardian resides. From the given factual information in the story, the students could compare and contrast other cultures with the Vietnamese culture. Furthermore, this book would be beneficial to have in my classroom library because there is a large Vietnamese population in this area of the U.S. The students could feel comfortable seeing their culture represented in the classroom.