Duckling Runs Away by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Vivienne To

Title: Duckling Runs Away

Author: Margaret Wild, illustrated by Vivienne To

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 28^th February 2023

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: A warm, comforting story about a cross little duckling and her mother’s unconditional love, from the award-winning and bestselling team behind The Sloth Who Came To Stay.

Duckling is running away and she’s never, ever coming back! Or is she?

Luckily, no matter how far Duckling roams, a mother’s love is always near.

A reassuring story about love and trust from bestselling author Margaret Wild, with sweetly charming illustrations by Vivienne To.

~*~

Duckling has had a fight with her mum – and she is determined to run away. She doesn’t want to play with the chicks or the kittens, or the puppies or the piglets – she never wants to come back at all! So off she struts, marching off into the forest and away from the farm as the day passes. But when night begins to fall, Duckling begins to wonder why she ran away.

A mother has unconditional love – which is shown wonderfully in this story when Duckling gets mad. Her mother lets her storm if with a fond warning, which shows that her mother isn’t really mad at her and knows Duckling needs her space. It’s a gentle, reassuring story about love that shows we all have our moments and sometimes just need our space away from what has upset us. In this story, Mum lets Duckling have this, and I think this is a good thing to teach children – that their feelings are valid, that all our feelings are valid, and nobody can tell us how we should be feeling about something at any time.

As children, it can be hard to articulate your feelings, and stories like this can reassure kids that they will be loved even when they get upset. That a mother’s love is unconditional and something that is magical and accepting in so many ways. I also loved that all the farm animals were friends and wanted to play with Duckling and cheer her up, but it was all up to Duckling to work out where she really wanted to be in the end.

This is a fun and touching book for readers of all ages, and for families to read together, and if they want to, sit down, and talk about it afterwards. It can be a fun read, a gentle read, or a read to calm down after a tough moment in the day, or even just a long day, as it has the sense of leading kids through the day, and finally, to bed time as Duckling watches her friends sleeping with their mums. I loved it as a story about the connection between mother and child, regardless of how old they are and where they are in their lives. A beautiful book for all ages.