Make Way for Ducklings

1.      BIBLIOGRAPHY:  McCloskey, Robert. 1941. MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS. New York, NY: The Viking Press. ISBN 0670451495.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are trying to find an appropriate home for them to start a family.  They look for a place that will be a safe place to raise their children.  They decide against one place because there was the potential of dangers, specifically foxes or turtles.  They settle on a park where they are fed peanuts; however, Mrs. Mallard does not like it after awhile.  She almost gets run over by a bicycle.  The go on and find a pond better suited for them.  A police officer named Michael feeds them peanuts and befriends them.  The ducks hatch.  Mr. Mallard went exploring, while Mrs. Mallard looked after the hatchlings.  Mrs. Mallard taught them to swim, dive, walk in a line, come when called, and stay away from things with wheels.  Mrs. Mallard leads the ducklings to Mr. Mallard.  She gets help unexpectedly from the policeman named Michael.  He stops the cars to make sure that they can all cross the street safely, and he makes sure there are policeman to help them later on with an intersection.  They find Mr. Mallard and their permanent home, which coincidentally was the home deemed ‘unsafe’ before.   

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The characters are universal.  Since they are ducks, it is easy to imagine them as any demographic.  The black and white illustrations allow the reader to really focus on the expressions and the language, which allows the reader to envision for themselves what everything looks like.  This means the reader is putting it more in their own world and context.  The parent ducks are easily relatable to parents.  They worry about trying to set down roots that are safe.  The subtle lesson in how help can come from the most unexpected place, such as the policeman helping the duck so urgently, is very timeless.  It also is a lesson about who can help keep you safe without blatantly saying it.  The one thing that I would also take note of in this story, however, is that the mother is definitely more hands-on in raising the children than the father duck.  The father duck is not as picky about where to put down a nest, is around for the birth, and goes exploring immediately after the ducklings are born.  Today’s society could get offended by this.

 
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Caldecott Medal
BARNES AND NOBLE REVIEW: " McClosky's illustrations are brilliant and filled with humor.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*It is great to use in conjunction with science lessons about birds and migration and molting, since the vocabulary is so rich in this book. 

Nonfiction bird books:

Hall, Margaret.  DUCKS AND THEIR DUCKLINGS.  ISBN 0736846425.

Gibbons, Gail.  DUCKS!  ISBN 0823415678.

Seymour, Simon.  PENGUINS.  ISBN 0060283955.

*It would be great to use in conjunction with teaching social studies on communities and who can help you out.
Other books for children about policeman:
Rathmann, Peggy.  OFFICER BUCKLE AND GLORIA.  ISBN 0399226168.

Lenski, Lois.  POLICEMAN SMALL.  ISBN 0375810722.