Make Way for Ducklings

A tip of the hat to Robert McCloskey, who made "Make Way for Ducklings," one of the most-beloved books in American history.

McCloskey called himself "an artist first, not a writer of stories," and this is clear in "Ducklings." As others have noted, the story doesn't make sense. A pair of ducklings visit the Public Garden in Boston, but scary bicycles make this area unlivable. The ducks wind up on an island in the Charles--and yet, inexplicably, they travel to the Public Garden AGAIN. This time, the Garden is not in any way safer, but that's that. The ducks decide to stay in the Garden.

I love this book for two reasons. One is the use of close third-person narration. The writer knows that bikes are bikes, not "things," and that the ornamental swan on a tourist boat can't actually communicate. But the duck-protagonists are unaware. It's fun to see Boston through a duck's eyes.

Two: As a critic noticed, McCloskey-the-artist used great "wealth of detail" and "economy of line." You can sense his delight in his drawings--even decades later. I'm pasting a couple right here.

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