Can Kindness Be Learned from Books?

I grew up with books. My mother read to me and I had exposure to lots of books around the house, and stacks of them from the library. I learned to read very early, somewhere between ages 3 and 4, I think. As a grown-up, I still adore picture books. I love reading them to children and I also read them myself.

So I was pleasantly surprised to spot one that felt so familiar on the shelves of our public library. I'm sure it was read to me as a child. I checked it out lovingly, and could hardly wait to dive into the pages again.

Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey, was first published in 1941 and won the Caldecott Medal as the most distinguished American picture book for children in 1942. It tells the story of a family of ducks who are trying to make it to the Public Garden, only to encounter traffic problems along the way.

Set in Boston, this book, which has sold over two million copies, still spoke to me as I re-read it again today. Of course I remembered the kindly policeman, who sends in a traffic alert for patrol cars to stop traffic so that Mother Duck can safely get her babies across the street.

Did this early story seep into my consciousness and make me a kinder, gentler person today?
I like to imagine that one of my best traits in life is kindness to animals. Was I inspired as a young child by the art and the words of Robert McCloskey?

Could this be why I stopped my car on the road just last week, so a family of fourteen wild turkeys could cross the road safely?

What do you think? Can kindness by learned from books? Does it seep in unconsciously from the literature young people are exposed to?

Do you have a favorite children's book that might have influenced your life?
This is a totally un-scientific study, but let us know!

Duck Drama

If you missed the first installment of my adventures with ducks, right here, we left off with my three boys ducks, Hershey, Snickers, and Roscoe, serenely swimming in their canal, and my plan to get them some girl ducks. So I found an ad for some Swedish Ducks, and since this was a breed that I wanted to try, off I went with my pet carrier, and promptly brought home Maggie, Mary Ellen, and Blue (back row.)

They were only 3 months old, and although they were feathered-out and appeared full-grown, they were really barely teenagers. But the boys seemed to like them (especially Roscoe, who took to them immediately) and everything went swimmingly at first.

Here is Roscoe with his "women." Maggie and Mary Ellen are Black Swedish, and Blue is a Blue Swedish.

The young ducks played like teenagers at a pool party. Splashing and chasing and diving and generally being goofy. I loved watching them. I adored the way they used their little feet, piddle-paddle, piddle-paddle as if they were bicycling, stirring up the mud and algae beneath them to get food.

Everything was peaceful on the canal for the first day or so, where the two big boys, Hershey and Snickers, hung out by themselves, while little Roscoe quietly shepherded the girls around their new surroundings.

But then . . . the big boys decided to act badly, chasing the young girls unmercifully, and it really wasn't pretty. It was a full out bar brawl, and the girl ducks were totally too young for all that. Finally, I had to separate them. *sigh* And then I had to make a choice. Did I really need all these ducks? Or should I find some of them a new home?

So . . . after much deciding . . . the two bad boys went to a new home, where they will each have their own wife. And guess who got to stay here on the farm, and escort three beautiful girl ducks around all day?

Little Roscoe, who had the last laugh after all.

Finally, all is peaceful on the canal once again.
Gentlemen, be nice to your womenfolk.

Adventures with Ducks

My latest passion is not a handsome stranger. It's not writing, or horses, or donkeys, or chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice cream (well maybe.) No, lately, I have been totally obsessed with Ducks!

Our new place has a small meandering irrigation canal running through it. And as the days warmed, I thought wouldn't it be cool to have some ducks floating there?

So, because I'm the kind of person who likes to learn about things first, (and get all of my ducks in a row *grin*) I promptly ordered every book that I could find from our local library on raising ducks/ geese/ or waterfowl.

I studied. And I googled. Do you know how many breeds of domestic ducks there are? Besides the normal white ducks (Pekin) and Mallards, there are Rouens, Cayuga, Muscovy, and Swedish Ducks. There are Crested, and Buff Ducks. Bantam ducks and Magpie Ducks. There are Khaki Campbells, Cayugas, and Indian Runner Ducks. And more!

Did I want just plain white ones, like the Aflac Duck? Or did I want something more exotic? The local feed stores were filled with adorable cheepy ducks, and there were online hatcheries where I could order whatever I wanted, to be delivered by the local postman. How to even choose?

After much consideration, I decided to find some already grown-up adult ducks to start. Although we have a very good dog, I didn't really trust my outdoor kitties to be nice to little cheepy things. And I was hoping to get some pretty ducks - something a little on the special side.

First, though, I had to convince wonderful hubby to build a secure duck pen. Because I knew that if we just got some ducks and turned them loose, they would soon be eaten by a predator, in the form of coyote, fox, raccoon, weasel, or who knows what else? And I didn't want tragedy and tears.

Soon, we had a duck pen and a duck yard. And I found three boy ducks (for free!) on Craiglist.

I named them Hershey, Snickers, and Roscoe. The two brown ones are Khaki Campbells, and Roscoe is a little mallard.

We kept them in the pen with kiddie swimming pools for a couple of weeks, until they got used to their new home and knew where they lived. And because I couldn't leave well enough alone, I found some more free ducks, and brought home Pork Chop and Prince William.

But Pork Chop was kind of a bully, and didn't play well with others. He hogged the pool and wouldn't let anyone else in, and then he started picking on little Roscoe (the mallard) and running him into the fence and biting him. Enough of that stuff! I gave both new ducks away the very next day.

I decided I'd just stick with my three very nice ducks, and started letting them out to wander down towards the canal. They meandered down and peeked, but decided it looked very scary, and would not go in at all. Until yesterday, when suddenly - all three of them were In The Canal!

Swimming merrily!

 

Frolicking!

 

Diving!

 

And so today, since I saw how much fun my three ducks, Hershey, Snickers, and Roscoe are having in the canal, I came up with another brilliant idea.

 

 

Maybe they'd like to meet some female ducks!

(to be continued)