Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

When the hustle and bustle of modern life gets to be too much, there's nothing better than curling up with a good bone to chew and a nice, feel-good book to read, and Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings is just that book. Set in 1940's Boston Public Garden, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard choose a quiet place on the Charles River to raise their family, then have to brave the dangers of the city (with the help of the local police) as Mrs. Mallard leads her children down a busy street to Boston Public Garden, where they live happily ever after. The April 1941 edition of Horn Book Magazine gave McCloskey's book a glowing review: "The Boston Public Garden has never appeared in more attractive guise than in this engaging book. The story of the family of ducks, raised on the Charles River and brought back to the pond in the Garden, through the traffic of city streets by its anxious mother is founded on fact as many Bostonians can testify. Robert McCloskey's unusual and stunning pictures will long be a delight for their fun as well as their spirit of peace" (Brodie 2006, 51).

 McCloskey's sepia illustrations earned him the Caldecott award in 1942, and there is no doubt why. Each illustration is a two-page spread, with minimal text on only one of the pages in almost every instance. This draws the eye to the illustrations, which are drawn to be realistic rather than cartoonish and are full of details. In fact, Robert McCloskey even brought real ducklings to his studio apartment to serve as models for his illustrations (Brodie 2006, 49)! The brevity of the text on each page helps set an appropriate pace for reading, keeping the pages turning so young readers stay entranced in the story.

One notable feature of McCloskey's illustration style is his varying perspectives. To help draw the reader into the story, much of the illustrations are drawn from the duck's perspective, sometimes with wide angle views as they fly high over the city, and sometimes with views from the ground accentuating just how huge the cars seemed to the ducks and their little ducklings. School Library Media Activities Monthly further praises his artistic angles: "McCloskey uses fluid lines and minimum shading to render key elements of the composition and keep us focused. The white of the page becomes a backdrop of sky, water, or land, and vantage points change from page to page as the artist positions the viewer far away, up close, in the air, and across the street" (Erbach 2006, 17).

While Robert McCloskey's choice of media was partially a function of the cost of color printing in the 1940's, his sepia illustrations also show respect for children's intellect. Children don't need loud, flashy colors and a constant assault on their senses in order for a book to hold their interest, as modern-day advertisers might lead us to believe. Children (and children-at-heart) appreciate the beauty in the monochrome illustrations, as demonstrated by Make Way for Duckling's continued ubiquity in libraries and homes across the country more than 75 years after its publishing.

While Mrs. Mallard is not portrayed as the stereotypical wallflower wife of the 1940's who simply does what she is told, the mother duck instead comes across as a picky wife who is never fully satisfied, with Mr. Mallard playing the role of the exasperated husband who must appease her. Neither option is a positive portrayal of a healthy marital relationship; however, this characterization is representative of the cultural views and values from the era in which the story was written. While this provides a great discussion point for older students, the perpetuation of gender stereotypes should be taken into consideration when choosing stories for young children, and exposing young people to a variety of different families and relationships in literature will help socialize them to our increasingly diverse world.

While McCloskey's story has been criticized for having plot holes (why did Mr. Mallard leave his family for a week without explanation? Why did the family leave their home on the Charles River?), this doesn't seem to deter young readers; perhaps because adults seem to make decisions for them all the time that don't make sense to the child, it doesn't faze them when the ducklings' parents also make decisions that aren't entirely logical.

To extend the learning experience after reading this book, children can visit the Boston Public Garden online through YouVisit's website (https://www.youvisit.com/tour/panoramas/bostonpublic/80813) - it even allows visitors to take a tour in virtual reality!  In addition to seeing the park where the story takes place, children can also see the statues of all eight ducklings and Mrs. Mallard up close.  Many other companion resources are available online, including activities that range from making duck puppets to watching actual ducklings hatch and grow. Another good companion story is Have You Seen my Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri, a Caldecott honor book which also features a family of ducks and has a similar theme of parental love and care for their children.

If you're looking for a tale that give you the warm and fuzzies (just like when I get a belly rub), Make Way for Ducklings fits the bill. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story with my owner, and it gets two paws up from me!

Until next time, happy reading!

Charlie Brown, basset hound

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Bibliography

Brodie, Carolyn. 2006. "Robert McCloskey: Of Ducks, Blueberries, a Harmonica, and a Donut Machine." School Library Media Activities Monthly 22, no. 7: 49-52.

Erbach, Mary. 2006. "Classic Caldecotts by Decade." Book Links 15, no. 6: 16-20.

McCloskey, Robert. 1941. Make Way for Ducklings. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0140564349