Youngsters
get to know the young hero and the adventures
that carry him toward manhood. As they come to know Jeremiah as a friend who would
understand their own growing pains, they look forward to each book in the
series.
Teachers
will Achieve..
Teachers will appreciate the ways
that Jeremiah Stokely novels, kits, and activities make literature
meaningful to children. Teachers can download free classroom idea
packets to hold a hand-on workshop based on each book.
Click the >Play button
to listen to the bird's song!
The Mallard is North America’s largest dabbling duck.
It is found in any wet habitat from city parks to tundra ponds. The male is
recognizable during breeding season by his iridescent green head and neck.
At this time, his neck is ringed with a narrow white band, his breast is
brown, body grayish white, tail feathers black and white, his large bill
yellow. Juveniles and non-breeding males and females all look alike, brown
and gray, with thin dark eye-stripes. The female’s bill is orange and black,
while the male’s is dull yellow. Both sexes have orange legs. They eat
invertebrates and plants, and do humans a great favor by destroying mosquito
larvae.
These common ducks breed from Alaska east to Quebec,
south to southern California, Texas, and Mexico, and east to Virginia. Their
down-lined nest of grass, built near a pond or in grassland, holds eight to
ten pale greenish eggs. The female alone cares for the ducklings. Female
Mallards quack loudly, perhaps feeling the responsibility of caring for so
many ducklings. Males utter soft notes.
Nearly 10 million Mallards live in North America, and
millions more live in Europe and Asia. The Mallard is the ancestor of the
domestic white duck.
