Book two of the Duckie & Snaps series was due in early August 2026 but I read via an online reader copy well before that, but like many reviews, I didn’t post it until now. And all I can say about We Cannot be Brave is that it is totally Duckie and Snaps. I guess I could say it is also pure Ame Dyckman. Which means both are really out there and both are goofy and sweet.
And I could add that the illustrator Tim Miller has made Duckie to look a bit like her creator, Ame (or at least that pink bow). And I guess I could add that like book one, Duckie & Snaps: We Cannot Be Friends, this story follows the theme of being told You Can’t but by gosh darn-it, you do not tell Duckie what they can or cannot do! You don’t know them! You don’t know how brave they are, or how far they can go when they try.
There is a lot of humor and not so subtle nods to book one (the adult of part one is an alligator so they want to eat Duckie and try to get Snaps, also an alligator, to not be friends with a duck, but take them out to lunch. Or more accurately, be lunch). There is also the story of how Duckie (who is the outgoing one) drags Snaps off into the forest so they can find the big little yellow things (Duckie and Snaps like the little yellow things, or bananas, and this one is just amazingly large). And they have an adventure, showing how they are not afraid of anything. Not the bridge, or the shadows or the noises. Okay, maybe the noises….
In the end, Duckie and Snaps do not get the big little thing solo (a little help from their friends is always welcomed), but they can be proud of themselves and how much they did do to overcome their fears. Maybe that is not a new theme, but I like how Dyckman brings it home.
