Publisher's synopsis
Peterboy wants to find something special for his grandfather, but he finds a fallen duck in need of care. This is an extraordinary and totally enchanting story of friendship, hope and joy from two very talented, award-winning picture-book makers.
Grandpapa’s eyes shine when he remembers the beauty of the world, long-ago. Peterboy wants to find something wonderful to bring the light to Grandpapa’s eyes and keep it there. What he finds is a duck, wounded and broken, and Grandpapa mends her from top to tail; quack, waddle and wing!
The Duck and the Darklings is a triumphant story, for children and adults, about the coming of hope in dark days, the warmth of friendship and the splendour of a new dawn.
Awards
- Winner, Western Australian Premier’s Book Award – Children’s Books, 2016, AU
- Commended, White Raven book, 2015, DE
- Short-listed, CBCA Picture Book of the Year, 2015, 2015, AU
- Short-listed, The Wilderness Society’s Environmental Award for Children’s Literature, Picture Fiction category, 2015, AU
- Short-listed, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature , 2015, AU
- Short-listed, Sakura Medal, for selected books in the reading program across Japan, 2017, Japan
Glenda Millard is a writer of great talent who has the ability to write across all genres and age groups – from picture books to junior fiction to YA novels. Her first novel about the Silk family, The Naming of Tishkin Silk, was published in 2003 by ABC Books. It was shortlisted in the CBC Book of the Year Awards and for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. She has also had numerous picture books and children’s novels published, including, most recently, Duck, Apple, Egg, illustrated by Martina Heiduczek.
Photo courtesy of Allen & Unwin
Stephen Michael King has been described as an artist who ‘draws from the inside out’, and it is this gentle, intuitive truth that gives heart and playfulness to his work. Stephen Michael King is an internationally renowned, award-winning author and illustrator whose career has spanned over thirty years, producing more that one hundred titles. He has worked with a stable of Australia’s best children’s book authors including Glenda Millard, Margaret Wild, Nick Bland, Peter Carey and Tim Winton. Books that Stephen Michael King has written and illustrated include: Three; Rainbow Bear; Mutt Dog!; Leaf; and Milly, Jack and the Dancing Cat. His books have been translated into over twenty languages, and he is frequently honoured in children’s book award categories – including winning the CBCA Book of the year, and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award.
Photo by Trish Hayes, courtesy of Penguin Random House Australia
