Make Way For Ducklings

Make Way For Ducklings
By: Robert McCloskey
Fiction
1942 Caldecott Medal
McCloskey, R. (1941). Make way for ducklings. New York: The Viking Press.


This book is beautifully illustrated. It is about a family of Mallard ducks in search of a good place to raise their children. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard have 8 ducklings and move from place to place searching for a safe home. Mrs. Mallard always finds something wrong with each of the places thus they have to move elsewhere. Finally in the end the Mallards decide to live in Boston Public Garden. 

Reading this book is a great way to introduce personification. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard have human characteristics. This book would also be a great way to discuss different ways to illustrate.  The illustrator uses charcoal on zinc plates to create the backgrounds and the foregrounds. This could lead to a great discussion about various medias used to create illustrations.