The pond

About this book

Carl Ewald’s children’s story makes a pond community of speaking animals, using their lives to bring the habits of its creatures within young readers’ reach. The eel boasts of producing vast numbers of offspring while admitting he has never met his mate or young, a joke that sets his self-regard against the stickleback’s care for its nest. When the reed-warblers’ chicks hatch, their parents hurry to clear the shells and keep the newborns warm. Later, the struggle to find enough food brings the family’s affection and fatigue into the same conversation.