This is one of those classic picture books that I've heard of but have never read before. It seems that it had a huge presence in the lives of many children and they look back on this one with fond nostalgia. I came into this book only with the recognition have having seen the cover countless times but no knowledge of what the book was about. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard look fly all over Boston looking for a place to build a nest and have a family. Along the way they make friends with police officer Michael.
Ok maybe it is because I didn't read this as a child but well...I kind of didn't enjoy it that much. I loved the illustrations especially the one with the little duckling who was staring up at the fly. But the story itself was VERY dated. Maybe if I were from Boston and could recognize the landmarks I'd have enjoyed it more.
As for the datedness of the story...weeeellll... I was not to happy with the idea of father duck running off for a week while mother duck is left to care for the babies. The mother duck has to teach her large brood of ducklings how to swim and other things before they make the dangerous trek to where their father is. Crossing busy roads several times. But that's ok because apparently cops have no problem constantly stopping traffic to let a mother duck and her ducklings slowly waddle by.
So uh yeah...This just wasn't for me and I don't mean to offend those that grew up loving this book. But I don't see this going on my bookshelf of books to reread. Again the illustrations are wonderful and I don't regret reading it (it is on the 1001 books list) but I don't ever plan on reading it again.
This is just a 2 out of 5 star read for me.
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