The Story About Ping (1933)

I've been planning to read this book for a while, but haven't gotten my hands on a copy until recently. It's interesting. The book is about a Peking duck that misses his opportunity to board a boat with the rest of his family one evening and to avoid getting whacked on the back with a stick for his lateness is therefore forced to set out on a day-long adventure on the Yangtze River. There were cormorants with banded necks, which I'd seen on television before now, and a boy tied to a barrel trailing from a boat which sounded like it should have been a violation of some kind of law. I'd never heard of or seen someone doing the latter. To be honest, I'm a little disturbed by it. Anyway, Ping the duck has his adventure and is captured and nearly served up for dinner before being allowed to escape and return to his family. All in all, a book full of odd behavior, but still interesting. You might want to give it a try. ( )

Originally published in 1933, this classic picture-book by Marjorie Flack is one I have been meaning to read for some time, as part of my "ducklings in danger" project - does it strike anyone else that there is a superfluity of endangered ducks in children's literature? how did they become the scapegoat of the picture-book world? A recent discussion of The Story About Ping over in the "Popular Children's Books We Hate" thread of the children's books group I moderate, highlighted the divided opinions about it, and reminded me to pick up a copy from the library this past weekend, so I could decide for myself.

The tale of a little Pecking duckling who becomes separated from his family one day, because he is afraid to be the last to board the wise-eyed boat that is his home - the final duckling to board always get a little swat on the behind - The Story About Ping follows its eponymous anatine hero as he survives a night and day by himself on the Yangtze River. Sleeping in the rushes overnight, and then encountering fishing birds, and a swimming boy, while searching for his family and boat, Ping barely escapes being made into dinner by the boy's family. When he finally does find the wise-eyed boat again, he doesn't hesitate to get on board, even though he is last in line...

So... what did I think? Well, I honestly have trouble seeing what all the fuss is about, or how people can interpret the little swat that Ping receives as child abuse. Leaving aside the fact that corporal punishment is not always synonymous with abuse, the behavior in this story struck me less as punishment (of any kind) than as herding. I think Flack successfully communicates the idea that we frequently get ourselves deeper into trouble, when we seek to avoid what is unpleasant and uncomfortable, and she does it with little overt didacticism. The accompanying artwork by Kurt Wiese is charming, with a decided vintage feeling that is very appealing. I don't know that I was as enchanted with this as I would have been, had I encountered it for the first time as a child, but I did find it solidly engaging. ( )

The theme was about independence portrayed through a duck's adventures on the Yangtze. It is engaging because it was an active, descriptive story that used repitition and was imaginative. This book is age appropriate for early childhood and elementary school level. ( )

The Story About Ping is another one from my childhood. It is about a duckling who lives on a boat with his family on the Yangtze River in China. To avoid being hit on the back with a stick for being the last duck to bored the boat at the end of the day, he chooses to hide on shore over night and to return home the next day. When the next day comes, he is unable to find his boat and is snatched up by a boy whose mother wants to cook Ping for dinner. The boy lets Ping go and he is happy to return to his family, enen though he is wacked on the back for being the last to board the boat.

I think this is a good book to talk about there being no place like home. Even though we may sometimes get in trouble for things, it is better to come home and acceot the consiquences rather than hide and avoid them. I also think this could be a good way to talk about different Asian cultures since the book is set in China. ( )

This is a cute little story about a duckling that does not follow the rules. He doesn't make it back to the boat in time and goes on a little adventure.