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Have you been looking for positive, motivational children's books that your children and you will love to read again and again? You've come to the right place!
Welcome to the Can Do Duck web site! We're glad you came to visit. Here you can find information about the Can Do Duck books and talk to Ducktor Morty and share your successes using the Can Do Duck approach.
Ducktor Morty (a child psychiatrist) and his family have written three books so far -- books that teach positive messages and entertain at the same time. They are The Can Do Duck: A Story about Believing in Yourself, Can Do and Friends to the Rescue: A Story about Getting Along and Working Together, and Can Do and the Storm: A Story About New Beginnings.
Writing these books has been fun for our family and they've inspired us to believe that we can do what we put our minds to. We hope that they'll inspire you as well. I wrote the stories and my daughters drew the pictures. My wife (a child psychologist) helped with the messages and with one of the drawings. We first printed the books at a Kinkos copy store and then when the orders started to come in, we went to a book printer. We've had to reprint more books every year. These books have been used in schools across the country. Children have been reciting the Can Do Duck slogan along with the pledge in classrooms and it has been chanted by cheerleaders. The books have inspired a book club with children doing good deeds and there's a literacy program that has its very own live Can Do Duck mascot. The books have given hope to children after hurricanes. One of the books was made into a puppet show by relief workers in Mississippi. They've also inspired adults and we hope they've helped many, many children overcome their fears and accomplish their goals. Coaches have used the books for their teams. Parents and grandparents have purchased the books for young children as well as adult children who they wanted to benefit from the Can Do Duck message.
We say we can.
We make a plan.
We get right to it.
And then we do it!
Can Do and the Storm: A Story About New Beginnings has a hopeful and positive message just like the first two books. It was inspired by the courageous spirit of those affected by the hurricanes that recently struck our country. We think this book is so important that we are trying to get it out to as many children and families as possible. Here's the exciting part... We're giving this book away absolutely free on our web site. Right now, right here you can read the whole book and print out your copy for children to read, color, or be inspired to write their own books.
What do a High School Volleyball team in Ohio, a Miss Tennessee Pageant contestant, a homeschool mom in Florida, a South Carolina Limousine company, and more and more schools all have in common?
They all have the Can Do Duck spirit!!!!
High School Volley Ball Team Serves Up the Can Do Duck Spirit!
Toledo, Ohio -- For a Volleyball tournament, the St. Ursula Academy Freshman team used Can Do to get psyched up. Coach Tammy Cox taped the quote, "I say I can. I make a plan. I get right to it. And then I do it!" on the side of the net during practice. She also gave each girl a rubber duck the day before and explained to them this was something to keep in their bags forever to remind them to believe in themselves. They were told to decorate them and bring them to practice the next day. Some of the players colored them and some dressed them up. One of the coaches wore a red scarf with CAN DO on it and wore a blow-up duck around her waist.
The team read the book together and used the players' names and coaches names while reading it. "They were really into it and listening while I read it," said Coach Cox. "I only wish I would have kicked my season off with this instead of in the last week. I have coached volleyball for many years and the one thing that I think the book really could help with is that volleyball is a game of errors and you have to believe in yourself regardless of the outcome of each point! I will be reading this book very frequently to my own children. They are 12, 10 and 3. It will help make them successful in all they choose to do. Thanks again."
Miss Kingsport, Tennessee 2010 will offer
hope, encouragement to children
Kingsport, Tennessee - Brittany Davis plans to use her life experiences to offer hope and encouragement to local children. As Miss Kingsport 2010, Davis will take her platform — “Believe to Achieve: Inspiring Children to Believe in Themselves to Reach Their Dreams” — into local elementary schools. Davis said she wants to use education as a way to inspire children. “I would read stories such as ‘The Little Engine That Could’ and ‘The Can Do Duck: A Story About Believing in Yourself,’” she said. She also plans to emphasize the importance of having dreams and setting goals. Her biggest aspiration is to give an award at the end of each school year to a child in each city school who has shown educational improvements due to self-belief.
“This is my dream, and I really want to implement my platform and make Kingsport a better place,” she said.
Davis will compete in the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Competition in June 2010 in Jackson, Tenn.
- source...This article appeared in the Kingsport Tennessee Times News
NEWS FLASH...NEWS FLASH...NEWS FLASH...IS YOUR SCHOOL LOOKING FOR AN EXCITING PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS????
Canopy Oaks Elementary School in Tallahassee, Florida began using the Can Do Duck books during their 2008-2009 school year and they will be using them again for their 2009-2010 school year. Here's how Carol Barineau, Principal at Canopy Oaks describes how the school incorporated the books:
I want to share with you just how much we enjoyed your book (The Can Do Duck: A Story About Believing in Yourself) last year. We had a grand year.
Last year the school wanted to meet the federal guidelines for yearly progress and be graded an A school by the Florida Department of Education as it had done in previous years. Every teacher had 3 index cards for the year with 3 goals: a personal goal, a professional goal as a teacher, and a goal for the children. Every teacher was given a Can Do Duck book and a rubber duck in their Welcome Back To School Bag in August. We also ordered 800 yellow ducks for all the students. Every teacher in the school read the book to their students within the first 3 days of school.
We had posters in every classroom with the Can Do Duck pledge, "I say I can. I make a plan. I get right to it. And then I do it!" The children would frequently repeat this pledge in class and at student assemblies. Parents were informed about the pledge in the school newsletter. Every class set goals and every child could earn a duck. Ducks were visible on desks, bookcases, and file cabinets throughout the school.
By the end of the year each child earned their own duck. The books were used for students from pre-K through 5th grade. They earned ducks when the student or class accomplished a goal. For example in K, when students knew their lunch number and could enter it in the lunch line, they earned their duck. The 3rd, 4th and 5th graders received a duck for doing their best on the Florida Assessment Test (FCAT). We were very proud that as a result of all the hard work by our teachers and students our school received an A, the highest grade from the Florida Department of Education.
We will be using the 2nd book (Can Do and Friends to the Rescue: A Story about Getting Along and Working Together) this year to reiterate how important it is that we all work together as this is my last year as Principal here.......I retire in August 2010. We have strong teams and have focused on team building and building relationships since opening the school in 1998. We will be ordering ducks and other animals this year to emphasize the theme of working together.
Next year, I hope the new principal will continue with Book 3 (Can Do and the Storm: A Story About New Beginnings) which is about change. With new leadership there is sure to be change, but as I continue to share with staff and faculty, change is a good thing and is the one constant in our lives.
Thank you again. We thoroughly enjoyed the Can Do Duck book.
The Can Do Book Club:
Combining Reading with Doing Good Deeds
The Can Do Book Club holding their Can Do Duck mascot which they take turns bringing home so they can keep track of the ways they make the world a better place.
Tampa, Florida
Recently a mother told us about a Can Do Book Club she had formed with the Can Do Duck as its mascot. The children in the club started by reading Can Do and Friends to the Rescue: A Story About Getting Along and Working Together. The idea behind the book club is that each week the children read books with positive messages about helping others. After they read each book they do a community service project that relates to that book. Also, each week two children take home a duck pillow and have to keep track of the good things they do to make the world a better place. (holding doors, picking up trash, being polite, etc...)
The book club is part of a homeschool co-op group called THINK-day. (Tampa Homeschoolers Instructing and Nurturing Kids). They meet in Tampa, Florida and there are 12 kids in the club. "We had our first meeting and everyone LOVED your book," wrote JoAnn Slay. "Two of my own boys are in the club. I have had several emails from parents who love the idea and what a difference it has made with their little Can Do ducks helping out around the house."
Among the books they have read has been a book about Peace called, What Does Peace Feel Like? and then they participated in the Pinwheels for Peace project. They also read Sam and the Lucky Money and made change purses to collect loose, found change to be donated to a worthy cause. One week the lesson of the week was to make someone smile. They passed out notes to people who seemed lonely. They read the book Somebody loves you Mr. Hatch for that week.
When the group meets they say the Can Do Duck "pledge" "We say we can. We make a plan. We get right to it. And then we do it!!" They can earn tickets for unsolicited, good deeds.
"The kids returned this week with full lists of things they had done in the name of Can Do," wrote Ms. Slay. "I am even witnessing my own two sons doing good deeds and asking "Was that what Can Do would have done?"
We would like to congratulate THINK for coming up with such a great idea and for truly making the world a better place with their Can Do kids. You are truly taking Can Do to new heights!
For more information about the Can Do Book Club, feel free to contact JoAnn Slay at jaslay@verizon.net
Can Do and The Storm: A Story About New Beginnings is available as a free download to help families who have gone through recent hurricanes.
Several years ago, it was distributed FREE to 30,000 children and families in Mississippi by Project Recovery! They gave out the books door-to-door, in libraries, churches, and in daycare centers. They even created a puppet show based on the book.
Project Recovery is a program that provides free crisis counseling services and is a division of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. They are funded through a grant from FEMA and facilitated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They used the books as part of their hurricane season preparedness program and to help children cope with the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
"The books were great! Everyone was thrilled with the results. Several of our Outreach Workers adapted the story into a small puppet show which the kids loved! Summer library programs were the target for the puppet show. After the show, they distributed the books. We distributed 30,000 all over the state of Mississippi, focusing on the Gulf Coast," said Wendy Bailey.
Orlando, Florida --- Dr. Phillips Elementary School used the Can Do Duck books in all of its classes for grades K through 5 for their 2006-2007 school year and again for its 2007-2008 school year to help teach positive attitudes!! This is a picture of the principal and vice principal with a banner they created. If you look carefully, you can see the Can Do capes on some of the ducks!
Dr. Phillips Elementary School is taking Can Do to new heights! They used the Can Do Duck books as part of their positive attitudes program, Are You Up For The Challenge? They give out rubber ducks, duck key chains, and other duck items to the children and to the teachers to keep up the Can Do spirit. A large Can Do Duck visits different classrooms with a journal to keep track of when a class does a project with a Can Do attitude! They are even planning a community service project. They are definitely proving, WE CAN DO IT!
If you are a teacher or parent and would like a copy of our FREE teacher/parent guidelines on how to use the Can Do Duck books to help your children the most, please email us at ducktormorty@thecandoduck.com. We'll email you back the guidelines right away.
DID YOU KNOW THERE IS A REAL LIFE CAN DO DUCK MASCOT THAT WALKS AND TALKS? HERE HE IS VISITING WITH CHILDREN IN SOUTH CAROLINA, THROUGH THE LIMOS FOR LEARNING PROGRAM.(Notice his red cape that says Can Do!)
The books are also being used in schools in South Carolina through the Limos For Learning(TM) literacy program. This is a very innovative literacy program that is improving reading levels in many school districts. It is a unique non-profit program rewarding students for "outstanding improvement in reading skills." Its mission is "to encourage, recognize and reward deserving students who demonstrate exceptional effort toward becoming developmentally proficient in English/Language Arts."
Limos For Learning(TM) brings together a network of individual, community, statewide and national organizations and sponsors to promote literacy and improved reading skills among elementary grade children. Currently in South Carolina with plans to expand nationally, Limos For Learning (TM) has developed a unique and exciting reading incentive program.
While the children are learning to read, they are also learning to approach life with a Can Do attitude. Last year cheerleaders at one of the schools could be heard cheering the Can Do slogan, "We say we can. We make a plan. We get right to it. And then we do it!" Limos For Learning (TM) is really taking Can Do to new places in style!
Can Do Duck as drawn by a 3rd grader and a police escort for the limos carrying Can Do readers! www.limosforlearning.org
All three of these books are rhyming picture books which are sure to delight. These books will help your children grow as they've already helped other children grow. Read them to your children and watch the magic unfold.
Remember, as the Can Do Duck says, you can do whatever you put your mind to!
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