From School Library Journal
reschool-Grade 3--Mallard Duck at Meadow View Pond follows the first season of a newly hatched mallard and his family. From his first swim on the second day of his life and his first meals of water fleas, mayflies and aquatic plants, to his early encounters with hawks and snapping turtles, young mallard matures under the warm spring sun. With the coming of summer, he and his siblings begin to lose their soft brown feathers. As fall approaches, the brood is mature and ready to test their wings. Wendy Pfeffer's descriptive text captures the habitat and clearly explains the development of the ducklings. At times the text is challenging for beginning readers, introducing such terms as clutch, plumage, preen, and iridescent. The luminescent paintings by Taylor Oughton bring the duck's pond world to life. The light and color of the art is beautiful. The accompanying cassette is well narrated and includes realistic sounds that bring alive the duck's world. Many young children are exposed to a plethora of humorous duck tales by the time they reach school, but this realistic story will put them in touch with the natural world of mallard ducks and the wildlife that surrounds them.
Emily Herman, Mary Lin Elementary School, Atlanta, GACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Reviewed with Kathleen M. Hollenbeck's
Islands of Ice.
Ages 4-8. Illustrated with attractive, realistic paintings, these titles in the Smithsonian Backyard series follow their animal subjects through a year, from birth to independence. Although classified as fiction, the series' focus is on the facts, not the stories. Zeroing in on one animal, each spread offers information about the birth process, diet, parenting, and development of new skills. The art brings readers up close to the animals and their worlds: children see the ducks at pond level, for example. Neither book shies away from the dangers of predators and the harsh realities of separating from a parent; in fact, Islands draws these aspects out a bit too long and tends toward unnecessarily flowery prose in places. But Mallard offers a well-balanced read, and both books introduce basic animal facts in an engaging, memorable format. For larger collections. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
