31 Aug 2009

Make Way For Ducks


Farmer Schulz lived on the beautiful Onkaparinga River in South Australia. He was a busy man and his farm was a busy place. There were cows and geese and goats and vegetables and fruit trees and cellars full of German sausage and dishes of scalded cream. And in the yard at the back of the house there were more than fifty ducks.

Farmer Schulz's ducks were the loveliest ducks in the whole world.


Every morning after breakfast Farmer Schultz would open the backyard gate so that the ducks could go down the drive and across the road and down to the Onkaparinga River. The cars would stop for the ducks because everyone knew that the ducks had right of way.

Then the city beyond the hills began to grow and along with it came the traffic.

Sometimes they didn't even stop for ducks!

Farmer Schulz called the family together to think of a solution.


The Schulz's come up with many solutions - the bridge is one of them. Will it work? Will the ducks get across the road and into the water or do the family finally give up on the ducks?

You'll need to buy the book to find out, won't you?

It's called Farmer Schulz's Ducks and it's by Colin Thiele. It is out of print (of course!) but is available here and here. (It is difficult to find in secondhand bookshops although I found one eventually.) The book was shortlisted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia for the 1987 award as Book of the Year for Younger Readers.

Colin Thiele's books are often written for older kids. With this book I've had children as young as three hanging on every word. It is truly delightful.

Robert McCloskey's Make Way For Ducklings is a wonderful contrast to this book. McCloskey's Caldecott Medal winning book tells the story of a family of ducks who have to cross a busy Boston street.

City-Country.

America-Australia.

The two work wonderfully together.

Ruth Marshall has a book study on Farmer Schulz's Ducks that you might like to check out. You can read more from me on Colin Thiele too, if you want to.

19 comments:

  1. That looks lovely. The illustrations are beautiful! We have Make Way for Ducklings. I'll have to put this one on my list, too.

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  2. I haven't seen this book Jeanne. It looks so nice! make way for the Ducklings is a beauty for sure. Do you remember The Story of Ping? I liked that one and so did my children. Ducks are great!

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  3. Lol! Finding it in Japan might be a challange, Sue!! There are copies in the US for a dollar though...

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  4. I had no idea Colin Thiele wrote picture books. My Ducky will love this book - wonder why we have never seen it in the library?

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  5. We love Make way for ducklings and Ping, they have both been some of the books for Grace's read alouds this year. Grace will often get the books and sit and tell the story herself! I have Farmer schulz's ducks also, it just arrived not too long ago, we are yet to read it, but thanks for reminding me! xxx

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  6. I'm going to have to check this out. The pictures are delightful!

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  7. Thanks! I'd heard of this book elsewhere and great to hear your review of it. Will add it to my "second hand book shopping list":)

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  8. Lol, Joyful mum - I think your book list must be almost as long as mine!! How does your hubby cope?

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  9. We loved this book when mine were little enough for picture books. And the Bunyp of Berkerly creek! I won't tell you how long story time was here ...but it was looooong. lol Kids who slept over loved bedtime because they got story time as well I used to be able to outlast the kids. Sadly not any more. :(

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  10. Oh, I love the illustrations in this book. So serene. Thanks for the sneak peek!

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  11. I discovered Farmer Schultz's Ducks secondhand a number of years ago. I never knew what a lucky find I had managed to bring home with me. I really enjoyed this story - especially the pictures. We also have Make Way for the Ducklings - but I never thought to make the American/Australian/City/Country comparisions before with these 2 stories. Thanks for the hint.

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  12. Jeanne: So sorry KGV collector was me. I was setting Dearest up & in & out & looks liked I've commented under the wrong name but that's definitely me. *sigh* So sorry. It was late & I was tired & my computer is slow, being at the end of it's hours.

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  13. I was just googling to see if Farmer Schulz's book is based on a true story. It was lovely to find your post, Jeanne, and get your comparison tip. 😊

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