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Reviews
The Horn Book Guide
Triangle Review
January, 2002
Returning to the setting of Night of the Pufflings, McMillan features the reintroduction of eider ducks to a small Icelandic island. This story, illustrated with clear, crisp photos, focuses on a girl who is in charge of raising a host of ducklings from eggs. The book's final page includes helpful field guide photos of the ducks, additional information, and an adult level bibliography.
- D.J.F. (Danielle J. Ford is an assistant professor of science education at the University of Delaware and a Horn Book Magazine reviewer.)
This copyrighted © review originally appeared in The Horn Book Magazine and appears here with permission. www.hbook.com/guide.shtml
School Library Journal
October, 2001
"A winning look at the
wonder of the common eider,
the splendor of Iceland, and
the resourcefulness of one child."
McMillan, Bruce. Days of the Ducklings.
photos. by author. 32 p. bibliog. CIP.
Houghton/A Walter Lorraine Bk. Sept. 2001.
Tr $16. ISBN 0-618-04878-2. LC 00-013258.
Gr 1-4 - Another beauty from McMillan. As in Nights of the Pufflings (Houghton, 1995) he traveled to Iceland, this time to record the reestablishment of a colony of common eider ducks. Young schoolgirl Drífa knows that to survive in the wild, the ducklings cannot become attached to her. So while nurturing them to adulthood, she keeps her distance, emotionally and physically, as much as possible. One photo shows the ducklings crawling over her while she lies still on the grass. It's apparent that it's difficult for her to not pick them up and mother them. Yet she stays focused on her task and the young ones survive and thrive. The ducklings are adorable. Like the newly hatched cuties, a few of the pictures are appropriately a bit fuzzy. An extreme close-up of a duck hatching becomes clear as the camera is brought further back from the scene. A winning look at the wonder of the common eider, the splendor of Iceland, and the resourcefulness of one child. - Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI.
This copyrighted © review originally appeared in School Library Journal and appears here with permission. www.slj.com
The Horn Book
January/February 2002
"Winning story
of economically motivated conservation"
Bruce McMillan Days of the Ducklings; illus. with photos by the author 32 pp. Lorraine/Houghton 9/01 ISBN 0-618-04878-2 16.00 (Primary)
McMillan returns to the setting of Nights of the Pufflings (rev. 7/95) to feature the reintroduction of eider ducks (the ducks whose down fills pillows and comforters and jackets) to Hvallátur, a small island in the Icelandic chain. This winning story of economically motivated conservation focuses on Drífa, daughter of one of the island owners, who is in charge of raising a host of ducklings from eggs to independence. The Icelanders collect hundreds of eggs from adjoining islands where the birds are plentiful, taking just one egg from each nest (so parent ducks won't notice). Back on Hvallátur, Drífa cares for the eggs until they hatch, then attentively looks after the ducklings. Clear, crisp photographs show the fluffy ducklings clustered about their caretaker, or set against the spare landscape. Drifa's affection for her charges is tempered by the need to teach self-sufficiency to the ducklings - she knows not to treat them like pets. At the approach of winter, the humans leave the island, and the ducks are on their own to survive the season. The book's final page includes helpful field guide photos of the ducks, additional factual information on eider ducks and the history of the island, and an adult-level bibliography. D.J.F.
This copyrighted © review originally appeared in The Horn Book Magazine and appears here with permission. www.hbook.com
Booklist
September 15, 2001
McMillan, Bruce. Days of the Ducklings.
Sept. 2001. 32p. illus. Houghton/Walter Lorraine
$16 (0-618-04878-2). 598.4
"This addition to McMillan's long list of superb photo-essays takes youngsters on a journey to a remote island off the coast of Iceland."
"McMillan's photographs are of extremely high quality, a wonderful blend of artistry and emotion, and his text flows well as it follows the transformation of helpless ducklings into independent adults."
"Put this on a display table to attract browsers or use it as a complement to the science curriculum. The minimal text, straightforward language, and multitude of photographs are ideal for reluctant readers."
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
December 2001
"The details of the ducklings' care... are absorbing. Budding young naturalists will... take to this like - you guessed it - a duck to water."
Note: The following reviewer has factual information incorrect. To avoid any missunderstanding with the book the review errors are highlighted in red and the correct information given after the review.
Kirkus Reviews
August 15, 2001
McMillan, Bruce
Day of the Ducklings
Photos by the author
Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin (32 pp.)
$16.00 Sept 2001
ISBN: 0-618-04878-2
"The photographs are handsome and the brief story intriguing."
In order to help endangered eider ducks and to restore an island to its natural state the Icelandic government has given a family permission to collect eggs of wild birds and raise them for release. Drífa, a teenage girl, and her brother and sister travel to many of the remote islands off the coast of Iceland and gather over 200 eggs from the nest of wild birds. These are taken to a remote island owned by Drífa's father. When the eggs hatch into velvety brown chicks, Drífa raises the ducks but resists cuddling or playing with them so they don't become pets. These ducks will need to be self sufficient on their own. She provides food, watches over them as they take a swim, protect them from marauding seagulls, and finally allows the to return to the wild. By early August, Drífa returns home to the mainland and the ducks must find their own way in the world. While the photographs are handsome and the brief story intriguing, the reader may wish the author had provided more information in the text or afterword. For example, what happened to the birds whose eggs they stole? How did they incubate the eggs? How long did the eggs take to hatch? Still, the concept is intriguing and should lead to further exploration. (author's note, short bibliography) (Nonfiction 6-8)
This copyrighted © review originally appeared in Kirkus Reviews and appears here with permission.
Review title spelled incorrectly: Day of the Ducklings
Correct spelling: Days of the Ducklings
Review fact wrong: "In order to help endangered eider ducks"
This is not an endangered species. No place in the book does it say this species is endangered. Eiders are protected in Iceland because of their valuable down and even hunted in the United States, as it says in the first paragraph on page 32.
Review fact wrong: "the Icelandic government has given a family permission to collect eggs"
A family wasn't granted permission. It was a collective of owners. On page 32 it says, "A collective of owners, including Drífa's father, purchased an cleaned up this island to restore it to its natural state. They also procured a license from the Icelandic Ministry for the Environment to raise eiders." All of the owners are listed by name on page 2.
Review fact wrong: "Drífa, a teenage girl, and her brother and sister travel to...".
The only mention of a sister in the book is in the thank you credits on page 2. Nowhere in the book does it say that Drífa's brother and sister are here. On page 32 the text reads, "Drífa and others gathered two hundred and eight eggs..."
Review fact wrong: "These are taken to a remote island owned by Drífa's father."
Drífa's father is one of six owners. On page 32 it says, "A collective of owners, including Drífa's father, purchased and cleaned up this island." Also, the page two credits read, "Days of the Ducklings was made possible through the help and assistance of the six island owners and advisors..." and it goes on to list all six owners by name.
Hmm. If you put all of the errors in the body of the review together you get: "Endangered family and her brother and sister owned by Drifa's father."
