Author Maria Daddino grew up in Brooklyn where there were
cement streets and no gardens but somehow she always loved nature. When, as an
adult, she moved out onto Long Island, she made the backyard of her home into a
wildlife sanctuary and shares with the readers here in "Maria's Duck Tales,"
her joys and sorrows, her adventures with the ducks and other animals that made
her home and yard their home. The author writes of Robert J., Peanut, Patches,
Jack, Ducky, the Whineys, her beloved ducks, of Fatso the squirrel, Sara Beth
and Diablo the swans, the mother opossum and her babies and the ospreys who
insisted upon nesting in a nearby dredging company's cranes. The numerous
mellow, colored illustrations that accompany the text add to the joy and love
in this story. Maria Daddino tells of attempting to grow vegetables in pots,
behind fencing, to protect them from her ducks. Did she succeed? Who actually
ate the ripened peppers?"Maria's Duck Tales" is an enchantingly well-written book with beautiful, colorful pictures accompanying each chapter. The author obviously is a nature expert for her backyard Wildlife Sanctuary was certified by the National Wildlife Federation in 2001. She knows how to make foods and shelters that her fostered babies adapt to quite well with a few amusing asides that she writes of with gentle humor. Author Daddino shares with the readers her knowledge of what to do with the many ducks who have lived in her sanctuary over the years. Her information is accurate, the book itself is well edited and formatted, making it a highly welcome addition to library and bookstore shelves everywhere, as well as in private collections of nature lovers or would-be nature lovers. "Maria's Duck Tales" is a charmer and has earned its place along with other great non-fiction books about animals.
Reviewed by Alice D. for Readers Favorite
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