Mr. McCloskey's Marvelous Mallards: The Making of Make Way for Ducklings

Smith emphasizes her subject's determination...with the spreads depicting the ducks' 'terrible mess' and 'infernal quacking' being sure to delight young readers. Stadtlander captures it all, including the ducks' chaos, in thickly textured gouache and colored-pencil illustrations. This is the children's version of [this] tale...and a satisfying one at that.

Inspired by one of the more charming origin stories in the history of children's literature, the new book shows the time, energy, determination, and craftsmanship required to create a book that seems so effortlessly right. Smith's narrative includes gentle humor, reflected in Stadtlander's gouache-and-colored-pencil illustrations portraying McCloskey at work and the absurdity of living with ducks. A pleasing tribute to McCloskey and his work.

Gr 1-3--Though the tale has been told before, notably in Leonard Marcus's Caldecott Celebration, this stand-alone account of how young illustrator Robert McCloskey filled his urban studio with live ducks in order to get his depictions of them "better than just okay" will give readers of all ages a sense of the dedication that went into creating the timeless classic Make Way for Ducklings. Stadtlander's views of a workspace and bathroom overrun with ducks as the serious-looking artist, sketchbook in hand, crawls under a table in pursuit of just the right angle reinforce the episode's sense of fun, and reproductions of his actual drawings scattered throughout will encourage closer, more appreciative examination of the finished art. Smith and McCloskey's daughter Jane contribute afterwords about the artist, his work, and his legendary editor, May Massee. VERDICT Make way for a comical episode that offers insight into the hard work of creativity, in general and in the case of one picture book that has been admired and loved for generations.--John Edward Peters

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Bland Smith focuses squarely on a single, knotty problem that Robert McCloskey (1914-2003) encountered while working on his now-iconic Make Way for Ducklings. The artist knows he has a good story to tell--"a pair of mallard ducks, looking for a safe place to raise their ducklings in a busy city. Bingo!"--but his preliminary sketches fall flat, and his editor concurs. Smith underscores the demands McCloskey puts on himself: "I can do better," he thinks. "I have to do better!" In textural, place-oriented gouache and colored pencil spreads, Stadtlander shows McCloskey training home with a box of live ducklings and a sheepish expression on his face, fielding skeptical looks from other passengers. He soon discovers that the ducks make difficult roommates, but his work pays off, a success that crowns this step-by-step portrait of an artist working through to a solution. Ample back matter concludes. Ages 7-10. (Nov.)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Making a picture book isn't all it's quacked up to be...Smith and Stadtlander reconstruct how Robert McCloskey wrote and illustrated the story, meticulously rearranging words until the text was perfect and agonizing over how ducks would behave in the story....The gouache and colored pencil illustrations...capture both the quiet moments of work and the hectic life of multiple ducks living in a New York apartment. Without doubt, this will be a favorite for both older and younger generations alike! Make way for a wonderful tale about the creation of a classic children's book

"Emma Smith has done a bang-up job imagining how my father wrote Make Way for Ducklings. I enjoyed reading her book." —Jane McCloskey, daughter of Robert McCloskey and author of Robert McCloskey: A Private Life in Words and Pictures

"A wonderfully rollicking rendition of the story behind the story." —Gary D. Schmidt, Newbery Honor-winning author of books for children and author of Robert McCloskey