McCloskey, Robert Books

Make Way for Ducklings (Viking Kestrel Picture Books)

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

ONE OF THE ALL TIME CHILDREN'S CLASSICS 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Make Way for the Ducklings by Robert McClosky has become a classic in children's literature since it was first published in 1941. Children's books have changed a lot over the years, but this particular work is substantial proof that change is not always best and more importantly, that quality will always stand the test of time.

The work has a lot going for it. First there is the story. Two Mallard ducks, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are trying to find a safe home to start a family; one that is safe from foxes and turtles. As they fly, several locations are considered and after a lengthy journey they settle upon a small island in the Charles River, Boston, Mass. Before settling here and starting their brood, they visit the Public Garden in Boston, where at first the find food rather hard to find, but after they encounter the "Swan Boats" and the people riding these boats throwing peanuts to them, they decide that the park is a good place. After checking the area out, the settle on the small island in the Charles River where Mrs. Mallard hatches a number of ducklings; eight in all. At that time, Mr. Mallard decides to take a short trip to check the area out. In his absence, Mrs. Mallard cares for her young and one day, after the little ones can walk, swim and learn to line up in a straight line, she takes them to the park.

The story of the friendly policeman and his coworkers, the journey through the city and their eventual arrival at their new home makes for a wonderful tale. Actual place names are used in the story and are depicted quite accurately in the illustrations. Louisburg Square, Charles river, Mount Vernon Street, Beacon Hill, The Book Store and several others sites allow visitors to more or less trace the journey of the duck family.

The second thing this story has is the marvelous art work. All is done in charcoal, with wonderful shading and great detail. The buildings, cars, people, dress and stores all are accurate to that particular era. This does not distract from the story in the least, and indeed, adds to the charm.

This is a wonderful read along book and is suitable for ages four through eight. I have personally "kid checked" it with these age groups and get asked for many rereading.

This book received the Caldecott medal in 1941 and it was well deserved. Other children's books by this author include Lentil, Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine and Time to Wonder. All of these are excellent choices and should be included in any child's library.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Editorial Review:

It's not easy for duck parents to find a safe place to bring up their ducklings, but during a rest stop in Boston's Public Garden, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard think they just might have found the perfect spot--no foxes or turtles in sight, plenty of peanuts from pleasant passers-by, and the benevolent instincts of a kindly police officer to boot. Young readers will love the mother duck's proud, loving protection of her wee webbed ones, and those with fond memories of Boston will enjoy familiar locales, from Beacon Hill to Louisburg Square, and over the Charles River--often from a duck's-eye view. Robert McCloskey, creator of Blueberries for Sal, never fails to elicit happy story-time giggles from youngsters, and his soft, brown-toned, Caldecott-winning illustrations make this gentle world come alive. (Ages 3 to 8) --Karin Snelson

Homer Price

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 61 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Nostalgic hilarity for young people and adults as well! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

You'll roll on the floor holding your splitting sides when you read about Homer Price and the crazy doughnut machine. This is great midwestern 40s stuff, still suitable today for both early teens and self-actualized adults alike.

Homer Price is a kid who's oblivious to difficult challenges. His antics causes each of us to mentally return to the days when frutrations were few and obstructions to new dillemmas just simply did not exist. Homer just takes on each situation as it arises and, somehow, things always turn out okay.

Originally published in 1943, this is one of my two favorite books for young people, (the other being "The Trolley Car Family," by Eleanor Clymer, 1947). The six short stories in this Homer Price volume include:

1. The Case of the Sensational Scent

2. The Case of the Cosmic Comic

3. The Doughnuts

4. Mystery Yarn

5. Nothing New Under the Sun (Hardly)

6. Wheels of Progress

This book is also available in softcover, which is the one I own. You COULD get this book for your kids, especially for boys, but the heck with that idea -- get it for yourself and you won't regret it! My highest recommendation.

Editorial Review:

Welcome to Centerburg! Where you can win a hundred dollars by eating all the doughnuts you want; where houses are built in a day; and where a boy named Homer Price can foil four slick bandits using nothing but his wits and a pet skunk. The comic genius of Robert McCloskey and his wry look at small-town America has kept readers in stitches for generations!

Blueberries for Sal (Picture Puffins)

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 87 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

My niece loves this book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

She has hundreds of books and everytime I visit she would ask me to read her this book. She loves the illustrations... especially the seal!

blueberries for sal-- 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

sweet book for little kids. It is an excellent book to read aloud to your children and grandchildren. It is about a girl out picking berries for her mom and it shows a baby bear doing the same for his mom.

Editorial Review:

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk go the blueberries into the pail of a little girl named Sal who--try as she might--just can't seem to pick as fast as she eats. Robert McCloskey's classic is a magical tale of the irrepressible curiosity--not to mention appetite--of youth. Sal and her mother set off in search of blueberries for the winter at the same time as a mother bear and her cub. A quiet comedy of errors ensues when the young ones wander off and absentmindedly trail the wrong mothers.

Blueberries for Sal--with its gentle animals, funny noises, and youthful spirit of adventure--is perfect for reading aloud. The endearing illustrations, rendered in dark, blueberry-stain blue, will leave you craving a fresh pail of your own. (Picture book)

One Morning in Maine (Picture Puffin)

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Morning magic 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

To a child, every morning is a new start with infinite possibilities; at least that's how it should be. In this classic 1953 book Robert McCloskey brings a child's simple world to life. McCloskey, better known for his Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal, gives us another look at little Sal. The story is timeless and his line drawings bring the children to life.

The simple coastal lifestyle of more than half a century ago may be hard to find today, in part because of the high local tax valuation of shore and island properties. Still, if you were to take a child to the rocky coast of Maine this summer, she could be little Sal in the clam flats. One Morning in Maine (Picture Puffin) is full of that magical atmosphere where the land and ocean meet. We all want that magic!

McCloskey's Caldecott-honored book tells a simple story. Young Sal wakes up on a sunny morning in Maine with an adventure in store. She and her little sister are going with their father in the boat to Buck's Harbor to dig clams. There are idyllic family scenes, lessons from their father about the world around them, ice cream cones at the store, and the disappointment of a loose tooth lost in the clam flats.

Simple stuff? It certainly is, and just the sort of simple stuff children thrive on. Sal's morning may be long ago and far away, but the curiosity and wonder of a child's new day will be with us forever.

Linda Bulger, 2008

Editorial Review:

"As we follow the story of Sal and his lost tooth we feel as refreshed as though we had spent a day with his family on their island."--Saturday Review. Caldecott Honor Book. Full-color illustrations.

Lentil (Picture Puffins)

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent book for a musically inclined child. 5 out of 5 stars.
46 of 48 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent book for the musically inclined child whose singing voice is a little less than melodious. In the book, the vocally challenged Lentil finds his mantra through the harmonica and ends up saving the day with it. My father gave me this book along with a harmonica when I was seven years old in response to my wobbly warbling, and I've been playing harmonica and many other instruments ever since. I just can't 'harp' enough on how great of inspiration this book was to me and could be for other vocally vexed children. -stephen

lovely book and character training 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

This is a lovely story set in a town in Ohio during the '40s. Lentil learns to play a harmonica and there are sweet scenes of small town life as well as a marching band. My 3.5 year old son loves this book, along with all of McCloskey's books. What has been wonderful for us about this book is the character of "Old Sneep", who grumbles and does mean things. This has really hit home with my son regarding our teaching of having a joyful heart and not complaining. Great literature at its best.

Editorial Review:

Lentil's harmonica playing saves the day when calamity threatens the homecoming celebration for the leading citizen of Alto, Ohio.

Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Centerburg Rocks 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I loved the silly stories of Centerburg as a kid and hoped that my nine-year-old nephew would not find the material too dated to understand. No worries! He laughs out loud at the complicated adventures that ensnare Homer Price and his friends. I'm pleased that he's enjoying a book that enlarges his vocabulary and his ideas about life way back in the mid-twentieth century.

Homer Price redux 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This is a great sequel to the original "Homer Price". Homer and his friends are off on more wacky adventures, each one funnier than the last. The final story, in which Homer and his fellow citizens are literally dancing all over town, is one of the most hilarious children's tales ever written. McCloskey had magic in his writing pen and his drawing pencil; it's hard to say which are better, the stories or the illustrations. Suffice to say that they all add up to a wonderful book for young folks. Highly recommended.

Editorial Review:

Further adventures of Homer Price, including those in which a juke box sets the whole town singing against its will and in which a mad scientist develops weeds that overrun the town.

Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man (Picture Puffins)

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Book, in the Classic Tradition 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book was one of my favorites growing up. Unlike other favorites that I found weren't so great anymore, this one has held up. It is much better than either Blueberries for Sal or Make Way for Ducklings because there are more plot turns and the color in the book just pours and splashes out of the book. The illustrations are just fabulous.

The book also uses nice alliteration and allows you to read it straight out or in voice (as a new englander or maybe Arlo Guthrie in Alice's restaurant - a sing-songy cadence -- check back after you read it twice and see what I mean). There are some repeated parts (descriptions of sounds and the leaky parts of the boat) that make the book fun to listen to for pre-readers as well as aurally rocking your child to sleep. My son has liked this since he was about 5 (now 7)

A terrific story with great illustrations.

Editorial Review:

Whenever Burt Dow, who lives in a snug little house on the Maine coast, sets out to sea, his pet giggling gull goes along. But this time, it will take all his might and some plain old ingenuity to save him and the gull from a raging storm.

Time of Wonder (Picture Puffin)

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Like a dream 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I read my children to sleep with this book every night. They call it their dream book since they drift off to sleep with thoughts of sand and sea in their heads. The words draw beautiful pictures.

another great McCloskey book 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book, especially for those of us who love Maine. You can almost smell the sea air, feel the wind coming off the water and hear the gulls in the distance as you read this!

Boring!? I think not 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The reviewer who found this book "boring" must not have much in the way of imagination. This was one of my favorite books as a child and I still remember it fondly (I'm 38). It doesn't matter if you haven't had experiences exactly like those of the children in the book. The writing and the illustrations make you feel as if you are there. You can practically smell the sea, hear the wind and rain, and the laughter of the kids at the beach. While drawing a vivid picture of a concrete time and place, the book also invokes a sense of timelessness, as well as of "deep time" and the ancient rythyms of nature. I think my favorite moment is when one of the girls stands in a forested area on a misty morning, her eyes closed, and listens to nature awakening around her.

This is a book about taking a break from the fast-paced modern world and connecting with nature (and appreciating its power), with the past, and rediscovering your sense of wonder. Written in the mid-50's, it was ahead of its time in some ways and is definitely as relevant today as it was then, if not more so.

Editorial Review:

The spell of rain, gulls, a foggy morning, the excitement of sailing, the quiet of the night, the sudden terror of a hurricane, and the peace of a Maine island as a family packs up to leave are shown in poetic language and vibrant, evocative pictures.

Henry Reed, Inc. (Puffin Books)

Keith Robertson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great for kids who are too old for kids books 4 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Henry Reed is an unforgettable character, a strange mix of can-do entrepreneurialism and good-hearted goofiness who would make any parent proud.

This is the first book in a terrific series, and is a perfect transitional novel from children's reading to more adult fare. At 239 pages, it weighs in as a longer book than most readers will have tackled to date, and the writing is slightly more sophisticated than you would see in a Hardy Boys or early Judy Blume book, for example. I would compare it to the series "The Mad Scientists Club," which has the same type of humor and level of sophistication.

As for the story, it is presented as Henry's journal entries over the course of a summer that he spends with his uncle and aunt. He comes up with schemes that young teens will find exhilarating, because they are just wild enough to be exciting, and yet just realistic enough to be believed and emulated. Some of the plans are purely to make money-such as his attempts to find valuable truffles in the neighborhood. Some of them are research, as when he sends a large balloon up into the air bearing a pigeon to measure weather conditions. All of them are humorous and fun to read about, as he often bites off more than he can chew.

This is a terrific series that will not only entertain, but also inspire children to think about their own start-up businesses and scientific research. I highly recommend it.

Editorial Review:

"This very funny story is Henry's straight-faced journal of his summer activities. Henry, who has an interest in nature and a talent for making things happen, establishes the firm of Henry Reed, Inc., Research, and with neighbor Midge as an ally, engages in a series of projects usually profitable to them, but often hazardous to the adults involved."--ALA Booklist.

Make Way for McCloskey: A Robert McCloskey Treasury

Robert McCloskey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Too Much Crammed Onto One Page 1 out of 5 stars.
32 of 32 people found this review helpful.

I saw this book at a local shop and thought, "Wow! What a great gift!" (for a soon-to-be-born neice or nephew). Unfortunately, this book has fit four, original pages onto two, "Treasury" pages. Something truly gets lost in the translation. The type is too small and the illustrations are difficult to fully appreciate.
I returned the book to the shelf and am in the process of ordering some of the originals from amazon.com instead.

Editorial Review:

From those famous ducklings to Homer Price's delicious donuts, generations of children have grown up delighting in the timeless stories of Robert McCloskey. Here, for the first time, all of his published works--Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, Lentil, Time of Wonder, One Morning in Maine, Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man, Homer Price and Centerburg Tales--are brought together. With biographical information and photographs, and an introduction by renowned critic Leonard Marcus that outlines McCloskey's career and his unforgettable contribution to children's literature, this collection is an in-depth look at the life and work of an extraordinary children's book legend.