A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images.
William Sherman Pène du Bois was an American writer and illustrator of books for young readers. He is best known for The Twenty-One Balloons, published in April 1947 by Viking Press, for which he won the 1948 Newbery Medal. He was twice a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal for illustrating books written by others, and the two Caldecott Honor picture books, which he also wrote.
The mallard or wild duck is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. Males (drakes) have green heads, while the females (hens) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black or iridescent purple or blue feathers called a speculum on their wings; males especially tend to have blue speculum feathers. The mallard is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. The wingspan is 81–98 cm (32–39 in) and the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm long. It is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks, weighing 0.7–1.6 kg (1.5–3.5 lb). Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes.
John Robert McCloskey was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He both wrote and illustrated eight picture books, and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association for the year's best-illustrated picture book. Four of the eight books were set in Maine: Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, Time of Wonder, and Burt Dow, Deep-water Man. His best-known work is Make Way For Ducklings, set in Boston. In longer works, he both wrote and illustrated Homer Price and he illustrated Keith Robertson's Henry Reed series.
Ruth Sawyer was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of Roller Skates, which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1965 for her lifetime achievement in children's literature.
Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acquired by the Penguin Group in 1975.
Domestic ducks are ducks that have been domesticated and raised for meat and eggs. A few are kept for show, or for their ornamental value. Most varieties of domesticated ducks, apart from the Muscovy duck and hybrids, are descended from the mallard, which was domesticated in China around 2000 BC.
Robert Lawson was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in They Were Strong and Good in 1941 and the Newbery award for his short story for Rabbit Hill in 1945.
The Campbell is a British breed of domestic duck. It was developed at Uley, in Gloucestershire, England, at the turn of the 20th century; being introduced to the public in 1898 and the Khaki variety in 1901.
Time of Wonder is a 1957 children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey that won the Caldecott Medal in 1958. The book tells the story of a family's summer on a Maine island overlooking Penobscot Bay, filled with bright images and simple alliteration. Rain, gulls, a foggy morning, the excitement of sailing, the quiet of the night, and the sudden terror of a hurricane are all expressed in this book. This was McCloskey's second Caldecott, the first being Make Way for Ducklings in 1942.
Blueberries for Sal is a classic children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey in 1948. The story is set in Maine, following the adventures of a young girl named Sal and a bear cub named Little Bear as they both go blueberry picking with their respective mothers before winter.
Morton Schindel was an American educator, producer, and founder of Weston Woods Studios, which specializes in adapting children's books into animated films. He named the company after the wooded area outside his home in Weston, Connecticut.
Beacon Street is a major east-west street in Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs of Brookline and Newton. It passes through many of Boston's central and western neighborhoods, including Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway–Kenmore, the Boston University campus, Brighton, and Chestnut Hill.
Fables is a children's picture book written and illustrated by American author Arnold Lobel. Released by Harper & Row in 1980, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1981.
May Massee was an American children's book editor. She was the founding head of the juvenile departments at Doubleday from 1922 and at Viking Press from 1932. Before working at Doubleday, she edited the American Library Association periodical Booklist.
Kurt Wiese was a German-born book illustrator, who wrote and illustrated 20 children's books and illustrated another 300 for other authors.
Nancy Schön is an American sculptor whose work is displayed internationally in museums, libraries, universities, private collections, and public outdoor spaces. She is best known for her work titled Make Way for Ducklings, installed in 1987 in the Boston Public Garden.
The Friends of the Public Garden (FOPG) is a non-profit organization founded in 1970 for the protection and preservation of the Boston Common, Public Garden, and Commonwealth Avenue Mall. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, the Friends of the Public Garden works with the Boston Parks Department to care for the trees, sculptures, gardens, and grounds in the three parks. The organization is supported by a full-time staff, board of directors, council, volunteers, and over 2,500 members. The group aims to care for the Boston Common, Public Garden, and Commonwealth Avenue Mall so that the parks can be fully enjoyed by current and future locals and visitors.
Make Way for Ducklings is a sculpture by Nancy Schön, which recreates the duck family in Robert McCloskey's children's classic Make Way for Ducklings.
