#852 of 1001 · November 30, 2022

Katherine Paterson and Leo and Diane Dillon bring us today’s entry: The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks. A proud district lord rides out with his hunting party. Along their way, the group happens by a lake. When he spies a pair of mandarin ducks, the lord immediately covets the male for his brilliant plumage and orders him captured. The beautiful drake is brought back to the lord’s house and shown off in a cage, against the advice of Shozo, the good-natured chief steward. When a compassionate kitchen maid named Yasuko secretly frees the poor bird, Shozo is falsely blamed. The two fall in love, and the lord accuses them of conspiracy and sentences them both to death. Fortunately, Yasuko and Shozo are freed by the timely intervention of a pair of messengers claiming to be emissaries of the emperor. These messengers are ultimately revealed to be the mandarin ducks in disguise, acting out of gratitude to the kindly couple. Paterson’s elegant narrative is accompanied by the Dillons’ dramatic illustrations, based on eighteenth-century Japanese woodcuts. #mandarin #ducks #duck #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks