Make Way for Ducklings

1941 children's book by Robert McCloskey

Make Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. It was first printed in 1941. The book is about two mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the middle of Boston, Massachusetts.

Make Way for Ducklings
AuthorRobert McCloskey
IllustratorRobert McCloskey
Cover artistRobert McCloskey
CountryUnited States
GenreChildren's picture book
PublisherThe Viking Press
Publication date
1941
Media typeHardback
Pages68
ISBN0-670-45149-5
OCLC192241

Make Way for Ducklings won the 1942 Caldecott Medal for McCloskey's pictures, drawn in charcoal, then lithographed on zinc.[1][2][3] In 2003, the book had sold more than two million copies.[4] The book was so popular a statue of a mother duck and her eight ducklings were set up in the Public Garden. In 1991, Barbara Bush gave a copy of this statue to Raisa Gorbachev as part of the START Treaty, and the work is in Moscow's Novodevichy Park.[5][6]

The book is the official children's book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.[7] The book is still highly praised for over 60 years because of its pictures and pace.[8] However, it was criticised for having a loose plot (story) and weak characters.[2] The book is very popular around the world.

References

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  1. McCloskey, Robert (1941). Make way for ducklings. New York. ISBN 0-670-45149-5. OCLC 192241.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. 2.0 2.1 "9780810311466: DLB 22: American Writers for Children, 1900-1960 (Dictionary of Literary Biography, 22) - AbeBooks: 0810311461". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  3. Anderson, Peter (1991-04-27). "After a half-century, families still make way for ducklings". The Boston Globe. p. METRO/REGION 1.
  4. Bancroft, Colette (2003-07-06). "A master who made it look easy". St. Petersburg Times.
  5. "Make Way for Ducklings, Boston by Nancy Schön". schon.com. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  6. "Make Way for Ducklings, Boston, by Nancy Schön". schön. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
  7. "Chapter 2, Section 49". The General Laws of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
  8. Maselli, Christopher. "Keep'em Turning: Exploring the Power of Page Breaks in Picture Books" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-29. Retrieved 2006-09-29. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)Archived 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine