The Quacken

Nominations & Awards

6BRITISH COLOMBIA, CANADA: Surrey Book Awards, 2025-2026
FLORIDA: Sunshine State Young Readers Award Jr. Book, (Florida, 2025-2026)
KENTUCKY: Bluegrass Award Nominee, Grades K-2, 2025-2026
OKLAHOMA: Redbud Read-Aloud, 2025
TENNESSEE: Volunteer State Book Awards, Primary Division, Grades PreK-2, 2025-2026
UTAH: Beehive Book Award, 2026

Illustrator: Pablo Pino
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
Publication Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN 13: 9781665922487

Fans of The Bad Seed and Creepy Carrots will flock to this hilarious, lightly spooky picture book about a boy who unwittingly unleashes a ferociously fuzzy beast on his campground!

Lurking in the lake at Cucumonga Campground is a fearsome and frightening creature. Legend says that it swallows kids, canoes, and even whales whole. But all Hector sees are cute, cuddly, quacking ducks. Until he breaks the campground’s most important rule—Don’t Feed the Ducks—and releases…the Quacken.

Order here

Click HERE for The Quacken’s
Educator Guide and Activity Kit

PRAISE FOR THE QUACKEN

Pitch-perfect tension and delightful silliness
Reminiscent of old, cheesy horror films, this tale will make a hilariously over-the-top read-aloud. Pino ramps up the drama in his illustrations, alternating full-page spreads with graphic novel–like panels and vignettes. Hector and his family are brown-skinned, while other campers are racially diverse.
-Kirkus Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE QUACKEN

Debut author Colón and Pino (Pumpkin Day at the Zoo) mix broad spoofs of horror tropes...with the silly extravagance and tight pacing of an 11-minute cartoon. And when a gag both comical and literal finally saves Hector, the story proves itself to be all in good fun, resulting in a lighthearted vibe that’s nothing to quack at. --
Publishers Weekly
PRAISE FOR THE QUACKEN

Pino's digital illustrations emphasize absurdity of an enormous menacing duck and include some minor gross-out humor, while Colon's funny text makes for a good summer vacation read aloud.
-The Horn Book
PRAISE FOR THE QUACKEN

Legend has it there’s a new campfire tale in town, one to thrill and delight generations for ages, and they call it…THE QUACKEN. -Antwan Eady, award-winning author of Nigel and the Moon
A goofy celebration of silly scares. -BCCB
PRAISE FOR THE QUACKEN

A fun, suspenseful story about a legendary creature who is equal parts eerie and entertaining." -Jessie Sima, New York Times bestselling creator of Not Quite Narwhal