Make Way for Ducklings
Front cover illustration
|
|
| Author | Robert McCloskey |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Robert McCloskey |
| Cover artist | Robert McCloskey |
| Country | United States |
| Genre | Children's picture book |
| Published | 1941 (The Viking Press) |
| OCLC | 192241 |
Make Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallards who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston.
Make Way for Ducklings won the 1942 Caldecott Medal for McCloskey's illustrations, executed in charcoal then lithographed on zinc plates. As of 2003, the book had sold over two million copies. The book's popularity led to the construction of a statue by Nancy Schön in the Public Garden of the mother duck and her eight ducklings, which is a popular destination for children and adults alike. In 1991, Barbara Bush gave a duplicate of this sculpture to Raisa Gorbachev as part of the START Treaty, and the work is displayed in Moscow's Novodevichy Park.
The book is the official children's book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Praise for the book is still high over 70 years since its first publication, mainly for the enhancing illustrations and effective pacing. It was criticised for having a loose plot, however. The book is popular worldwide.
Make Way for Ducklings, published in 1941, was McCloskey's second book and was the winner of the Caldecott Medal in 1942. In his acceptance speech, McCloskey explained his motivation for the story. While attending the Vesper George Art School in the early 1930s, he would spend time in the Public Garden feeding the ducks. After some time away, he returned to Boston to paint a mural and created a draft of the book after inspiration from May Massee. To better illustrate the story, McCloskey spent time at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, visited an ornithologist, and eventually brought home for models six ducklings to live in his studio at 280 West 12th Street, apartment 4C, in New York's West Village.
...
Wikipedia