A friend of mine has been very excited, and with good reason, about Duck on Bike, a most excellent contraption which one can buy for a very reasonable sum at Balloons and Tunes in Carrboro, NC.*
I too am excited, for back when I wasn’t such a biker, I had a duck. It was a hard plastic duck, not your standard rubber-ducky variety; it stood up and waved its little wings in the air. I cut a hole in the base of it and wired it over the hood ornament on my Buick Regal. For many years, the duck waved the way forward for me, chipper and never failing in its optimism.
Now that my ideal mode of transit is the bicycle, it has occurred to me that my bike could use a duck. Which is why I find instances of duck-and-bike so thrilling. Like this one:
Some of you may be searching for the perfect present for that young biker in your life. Happily, you may purchase a book about nothing else except a duck and a bike: Duck on a Bike, by David Shannon (Blue Sky Press, 2002). I note that the duck is not wearing a helmet, which is unfortunate. Apparently even ducks have a hard time getting over the outmoded idea that helmets are ugly, and accepting them as the dashing—and essential—bit of gear that they are. A careful conversation with your young biker friend might suggest that the duck simply didn’t have access to a helmet—they don’t come in sizes that small. At any rate, this book looks like a winner.
Stay tuned for more ducks-on-a-bike (and a few more gift ideas), coming soon.
*You may also find Duck on Bike at various locations online—but how boring is that? Try your local toy store.
