The Mallards and Their Neighbors

Old Homestead Tales #2

by Neil Wayne Northey

The Mallards and Their Neighbors makes learning about nature fun. The author, Neil Wayne Northey, describes the wonders of wildlife around the pond in a simple, understandable way. Character lessons a

181 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1930

Reviews

[Matt]

The Mallards and Their Neighbors is the second of four volumes of Neil Wayne Northey’s Old Homestead series. Like the first volume, this is a quick and pleasant children’s book that follows the lives of numerous animals that inhabit the area around the Duck Pond though the titular Mallards with brief appearances by Mr. Bluebird. Although this is the second book of the series, it can be read before the first volume and still provide enjoyment to young children either reading on their own or being read to by their parents.

[Judy]

I judged this book by the cover (the 1930 ed). It's attractive and clean ... but the writing is disappointing.

The first paragraph reads,
The morning was chilly, with Gray Cloud Ships blanketing the sky. By noon a heavy mist was falling, which soon turned into Wet Little Raindrops, and as it grew colder Merry Little Snowflakes began to fall.

Most of the Nature Nouns are given Colorful Descriptors which are all capitalized. This makes for tedious reading.

I don't mind referring to the Mallards as Mr and Mrs because that helps distinguish the two ducks, but I don't like when NWN adds names like Ducky Doodles and Lutra the Otter. Even names like Paddletail the Beaver are unnecessary.

Terror the Hunter appears with his gun (which probably has a name); he's a foreigner who can't read English and who kills for the fun of it (but he'll eat just about anything).

I did appreciate the few pages about tagging the ducks to learn about their migration travels.

The illustrations are by William Wilke -- they are well done and deserve to illustrate a better story.

Aside: The author lived in Denver, but I've never heard of him.

[Janelle]

Dnf. Poor audio quality.

[Janice]

Love these books. This is the 3rd edition of this set of books that we own. The other two sets are falling apart.