Book Review : Autobiography of a Duck

Title : Autobiography of a Duck

Author : John Arnold

ISBN : 9781478255482

John Arnold spins an endearing story around the life of a duck by the name Donald and through this poignant story the vicissitudes of duck's life are brought to the readers.

Seen through the eyes of a wise duck, his hurdles and accomplishments, friends and foes, joys and sorrows come to life as the author beautifully sketches each of them with panache.

Donald is hatched in a large family but soon an unhappy incident happens in his life. He is taken away with some other ducklings by the humans to The Lake Brother's Traveling Carnival and Circus. Along with other ducklings, Donald is kept as a prize in a concession where humans try to throw nickels into plates. While waiting to be won by someone, Donald makes friends with another duck - Waddles, who successfully escapes from the carnival.

Donald eventually finds a wonderful home and there a loving little boy showers his attention, affection and love on the little duck. He even ends up fetching an award 'The most unusual pet' for his owner.  While living in the house, Donald makes many friends - Sapphire, the messenger Bluebird, LeRoy and a nice cat Seymour. He enjoys the company of his friends but is equally scared of the neighbourhood cats.  In short he has a happy and peaceful life here.

A delightful and funny tale indeed written with love and compassion for the family pet. Families with pets would surely relate to this story. The companionship between the young boy and Arnold is simply fascinating. A very positive story and especially the end when gradually Donald gets ready for the ultimate truth of life - the inevitable end. More illustrations or pictures would have enhanced the overall impact of the story.