On Duck Pond (On Bird Hill and Beyond #2)

by Jane Yolen (Author) Bob Marstall (Illustrator)

On Duck Pond (On Bird Hill and Beyond #2)
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
From award-winning and NY Times bestselling children's author of more than 350 books, Jane Yolen, and award-winning illustrator, Bob Marstall, On Duck Pond is the first sequel to the acclaimed On Bird Hill, which launched the children's picture book series written for the esteemed Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the world authority on birds.

In On Bird Hill, Yolen and Marstall took readers on a surreal journey with a boy and his dog, as they stopped, looked, and noticed things along their path--ultimately discovering the miracle of the birth of a baby bird. On Duck Pond continues the journey of the boy and dog story, this time in a new place--a serene pond, filled with birds, frogs, turtles and other creatures going about their quiet business. Their intrusion stirs the pond into a cacophony of activity, reaching climactic chaos, before slowly settling back to it's quiet equilibrium.

This beautiful and enchanting sequel is sure to delight On Bird Hill fans and millions of readers and fans of Jane's popular classics.
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Kirkus Reviews

Another fine entry for a “sense of wonder” collection. 

Publishers Weekly

The team behind On Bird Hill returns with an intimate reflection on a small Massachusetts pond, where a placid scene can change at a moment's notice. While On Bird Hill had a certain dreamlike quality, particularly in Marstall's slightly surreal artwork, this story feels grounded in careful, quiet observation. Yolen writes in first-person rhymes (the narrator is eventually revealed to be a boy walking his dog), bearing contemplative witness to the disruptions caused by a "quack of ducks" that descends on the pond: "A frog leaped off his lily pad./ Quite surprised and very mad./ A heron flew back to her nest./ Tadpole hid--which they do best." A sunlit glow seems to infuse Marstall's landscapes, and he's carefully attentive to the physical details of the birds, frogs, and other creatures the boy notices. Informative endnotes invite readers to locate eight animals hidden in the preceding pages, offer additional information about a host of birds and other creatures, and encourage children to learn more about ponds and birds. Ages 3-5. Author's agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. Illustrator's agent: Abigail Samoun, Red Fox Literary. (Apr.)

Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2--This sequel to On Bird Hill celebrates the wildlife of a New England pond. When a rowdy raft of ducks drop in, creatures from turtles to heron to tadpoles rouse from drowsy bliss. The disrupters' equally sudden departure brings the gradual return of deer, a raccoon, and a redwing blackbird as well as the reemergence of the water denizens. Colorful spreads accommodate Yolen's rhymes: "A frog leaped off his lily pad, quite surprised and very mad." Marstall's realistic paintings embrace nature's greens, blues, browns, and yellows. The book concludes with notes on pond habitats, a description of the Cornell Lab's work with birds, and a picture dictionary of pond-loving birds and ducks. VERDICT Use this breezy visit to a pond for Earth Day celebrations or as a literary field trip on a rainy day. A solid introduction to nature, best shared one-on-one.--Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Like its predecessor, On Bird Hill, this book is a jewel of a small moment. On Duck Pond is what you take off the shelf when you want to show people of any age how to write a narrative...Captivating."—Jeff Barger http: //ncteacherstuff.blogspot.com/search?q=on+duck+pond 
Jane Yolen
Jane Yolen is an award-winning author who has written more than 380 books for children, including the bestseller How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? and the 1988 Caldecott Medal winner Owl Moon. She is known for her beautiful poetry, picture books, fairy tales, novels, and nonfiction, and has even been called "the Hans Christian Andersen of America" (Newsweek). She lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. Visit her at JaneYolen.com.

Jane Dyer is the illustrator of many books for children, including When Mama Comes Home Tonight, Sophie's Masterpiece by Eileen Spinelli, Roly Poly by Mem Fox, and the New York Times bestselling Cookies series by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781943645367
Lexile Measure
680
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Cornell Lab Publishing Group
Publication date
March 20, 2019
Series
On Bird Hill and Beyond
BISAC categories
JUV057000 - Juvenile Fiction | Stories in Verse (see also Poetry)
JUV002000 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | General
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
Library of Congress categories
-

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