All Night Near Water [Hardcover]

Jim Arnosky (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

After hatching from their eggs, twelve ducklings join their mother on a trip to the lake where they will spend their first night, but the ducklings cannot sleep because of all the amazing and wonderful things that surround them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Through limpid watercolors and tender prose, Arnosky (Every Autumn Comes the Bear; Otters Under Water) magnifies a routine moment in nature until it assumes exceptional proportions. A mother mallard leads her dozen ducklings "around the shoreline weeds, through a driftwood maze" to a sandbar, where the whole family will spend its first night away from the nest. While the mother settles for the night, the wakeful ducklings find plenty of thrills-the sounds of frogs, the flitting of bats, the flickering of fireflies. Finally, the mallard softly calls her young, "covers them with her wings and presses them against her sides." The tale turns from bedtime story to reveille as the sun rises and the ducklings dip into the lake for a morning swim. A polished, surely paced presentation. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-A mother mallard leads her ducklings from their nest on a first trip to the lake, where they play on and explore a sandbar, then cuddle safely beneath her wings until morning. Arnosky's talent lies in his ability to reproduce a scene from his naturalist's-eye view, which allows others to see and feel his own sense of wonder and excitement. The composition and coloring of each borderless watercolor painting, his technique of shading and blending color, and his use of light provide further evidence of his fine artistic ability. In fact, the illustrations greatly overshadow the simple text, which lacks the brevity and poetic style evident in Deer at the Brook (Lothrop, 1986), in which Arnosky achieved a perfect meld of text and artwork. Nevertheless, All Night Near the Water provides another lovely introductory glimpse at the natural world for the very young.
Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (September 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039922629X
• ISBN-13: 978-0399226298
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,489,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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