Tag Archives: Children’s Literature

Elem. – Make Way: The Story of Robert McCloskey, Nancy Schön, and Some Very Famous Ducklings

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Kunkel, Angela Burke. Make Way: The Story of Robert McCloskey, Nancy Schön, and Some Very Famous Ducklings. Random House Studio, 2023. 978-0-593-37335-4. $19.99. 48 pages. Grades K-3.

As a boy in Hamilton, Ohio, Bob was always able to look at an object and draw or carve or sculpt it. As a young girl in Newton, Massachusetts, Nancy loved to work with nature to create three dimensional sculptures. Bob went on to study art in Boston. Nancy headed to the library after school to study ancient architecture. Both Nancy and Bob grew up hoping to one day be artists. Both faced rejection as they pursued their craft, yet both refused to give up. Eventually Bob came up with the idea to create a story about a family of ducks looking for a home in Boston’s Public Gardens. Make Way for Ducklings, published in 1941, became a classic children’s picture book and won a Caldecott Medal in 1942. Meanwhile, Nancy continued to struggle to find a place to belong. When her family moved to Boston Nancy would stroll through the Public Gardens. Inspired by a young child who wanted to know where Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their family of ducklings were in the park, Nancy came up with an idea for a new project. After creating a prototype of the famous duck family, Nancy worried. The Mallards were Robert McCloskey’s characters, would he approve? Nancy didn’t know Bob, but that didn’t stop her. She invited Bob to visit her studio to view the statue and discuss the possibility of an installation in the Public Gardens. At first Bob was reluctant. He thought the ducks were too small. Undeterred, Nancy re-sculpted the statue on a larger scale. When Bob returned to look at Nancy’s second attempt, he suggested the statue was now too big. Nancy explained to Bob that outdoor sculptures often look too big when displayed inside. To prove her point, Nancy hauled her creation to the sidewalk in front of her house. Bob remained skeptical until a group of children walking down the street started quacking and petting the statue of the Mallard family. The bronze sculpture depicting Mrs. Mallard, Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack was installed in Boston’s Public Gardens in 1987. Bob and Nancy remained close friends until his death in 2003.

THOUGHTS: This enchanting story cleverly weaves the biographical narratives of Robert McCloskey and Nancy Schön through their parallel stories of artistic perseverance. Not unlike the infamous Mallard family, Bob and Nancy each want to find a place to belong and to thrive while raising their families. The full-color illustrations by Claire Keane cleverly pay homage to McCloskey’s sepia sketch style as used in Make Way for Ducklings. A delightful read aloud that will enchant fans of the original picture book.

Biography
813.54 Literature, English (North American)
American Fiction, 20th Century, 1945-1999

Elem. – Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse

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Stutzman, Jonathan. Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse. Henry Holt and Company, 2020. 978-1-250-22285-5. 40 p. $18.99. Grades K-2.

The follow up to Llama Destroys the World finds Llama doing what he does best – eating, adventuring, and dreaming. One thing Llama does NOT do is clean up messes, so he creates The Replicator 3000, a machine which, as the name suggests, clones whatever – or whomever – is put inside. When Llama’s friend Alpaca comes over for lunch, Llama decides to clone her; after all, Alpaca loves cleaning and two alpacas can clean even faster than one. However, by dinnertime, there are millions of alpaca clones roaming the earth. They swarm playgrounds, schools, restaurants, and streets, cleaning everything in their path. The horde of alpacas causes chaos and unrest among the other animals who declare this the end of the world! Llama, however, is not concerned; after all, he is busy eating a cheese pizza with extra cheese, the smell of which lures all the alpacas back to his house. Now Llama pays attention  – there is no way he is going to give up his pizza! Llama is stuck making a difficult decision. He will either have to give up his pizza to the endless parade of alpacas or find a way to reverse the cloning and save his pizza (and the world, of course).

THOUGHTS: Married author/illustrator duo Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox have once again created a silly story that is sure to delight young readers. Every child can relate to Stutzman’s Llama (after all, most children prefer eating pizza over cleaning) and Fox’s illustrations are bright and enticing, showcasing the animals’ silly expressions. Another bonus for librarians including this in their collection is that they will be supporting a local author and illustrator: Stutzman and Fox live and work in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Picture Book          Danielle Corrao, Manheim Central SD