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This Doreen Cronin author study is full of hands-on activities kids in grades K-2 will enjoy! The free thirty-page printable helps bring the books to life.
Doreen Cronin is a former attorney turned children’s book author. Actually, she wrote the manuscript for her first book, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, before she ever started law school. It took five years to get her first book published. And, the rest is history.

From cows and chickens to worms and ducks, Cronin has published over 20 children’s books. She’s a fantastic author to choose for an author study.
Dig in and learn a little bit about her life. Then, choose some books from her, and have tons of fun!
You can spread this study across an entire month choosing one book per week. Or, you can do it for one week choosing one new story each day.
Either way, kids in grades K-2 will love diving into these fun books with hands-on activities and fun printables!
Doreen Cronin Author Study
This author study features five of my favorite books from Doreen Cronin. I have gathered hands-on activities, videos, and crafts to go with each book. In addition, I’ve created fun printable learning activities that tie into each one.
Feel free to pick and choose the activities and printables that best fit your students. The important part is to develop a love of learning that stems from diving into a great book!
Click, Clack Splish Splash Activities
Click, Clack, Splish, Splash: Duck and his fellow barnyard friends are planning to trick Farmer Brown.
Hands-on Activities:
- Use goldfish crackers
to practice counting to ten.
- Use shaving cream or a sand tray to practice finger-writing the numbers 1-10.
- Let kids see how high they can stack blocks
.
- Write a note for someone and leave it on their door.
Printables Include:
- trace the numbers 1-10
- count and clip cards 1-10
- match the rhyming words
Diary of a Fly Activities
Diary of a Fly: Oh my goodness! This is one funny little picture book. Little Fly keeps a diary journaling his days at school, at home, and with his friends.
Hands-on Activities:
- Make an “All About Me” book like Fly did.
- Count to 200 (the number of times a fly can beat its wings in one second).
- Make a fly with bubble wrap wings and eyes.
- Print and color these Fun Fly Facts bookmarks.
- Learn how to draw cartoon flies.
Printables Include:
- vocabulary page
- life cycle of a fly recording page
- five senses observation page
- diary page
- superhero writing prompt

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type Activities
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type: Typing cows. Ransom notes. Animals on strike. What’s Farmer Brown going to do?
Hands-on Activities:
- Visit a local farm.
- Try typing a letter on the computer.
- Make a fun cow paper plate mask.
- Paint a cow on a farm. Add a typewriter in the background.
- Make cow paper bag puppets.
Printables Include:
- proper nouns
- label a friendly letter
- compound words
- write friendly letter
- fantasy or realistic
Duck for President Activities
Duck for President: Duck has very high aspirations! What will happen when he hits the campaign trail?
Hands-on Activities:
- Make a Duck for President handprint poster.
- Watch a fun Duck for President campaign video.
Printables Include:
- chores
- the President’s job
- story map
- vocabulary
- campaign signs

Click, Clack, Peep Activities
Click, Clack, Peep! There’s trouble on the farm when a newly hatched visitor arrives.
Hands-on Activities:
- Paint a baby duck with a fork.
- Conduct some egg-citing science experiments.
- Make a cupcake liner duck family.
Printables Include:
- farm animal sort
- what’s in your egg?
- duck research
- animal sounds
- writing prompt
More Doreen Cronin Books
Fill your book basket with more Doreen Cronin books. Most of these books can be found at your local library or used bookstore.
If you have a hard time finding them, you can order them through my Amazon affiliate links by clicking the images below.
Click, Clack, Quack to School – They can stand in line (sort of), use indoor voices (perhaps), and are capable of sharing (rumor has it), so the Click Clack critters are ready for school…but is school ready for them?
Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure – As Farmer Brown designs the corn maze for the fall festival, Duck does some designing of his own. Guess who’s in for a big surprise?
A Busy Day at the Farm – Follow the pigs, the cows, and Duck as they suffer through their impossibly busy schedules. From working out to having a picnic, it’s no wonder these animals are so tired at the end of the day!
DOWNLOAD YOUR PRINTABLES
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