From The Past

Margaret and I have increasing numbers of younger friends with small children. Because we care about good parenting, we want to share with our friends some of the benefit of our experience (this trick works especially well on people who actually know our children). In order to complete the prank, though, we need the help of someone who can lay his or her hands on copies of infant books — the kind that kids can’t themselves read, but they love hearing read to them over and over again. And again. “Again, Mommy! Read me, Daddy!”
 
So we’d be profoundly thankful to someone who can fix us up with that modern classic, Danny Duck. I cite from memory (Nate will correct me if I make a mistake):

Danny Duck loves the water
He belongs to the farmer’s daughter

On the pond he makes his home
But the farmyard’s where he likes to roam

All the animals hear him quack
As he pecks the corn out of the sack

The young farm dog who loves to play
Often chases him away

But out here in the summer sun
All the animals enjoy the fun!

The joy of having that seared in my memory I must share with my colleagues. Please tip me off if you know where I can get a copy or eight.
 
[29 November 2016 — Correspondent Tracey wants a copy too. She reminds me that the correct third line is ‘On the pond he makes his home’, not (as I had it before I corrected it) ‘In the barn he makes his home’. Thanks, Tracey!]

14 thoughts on “From The Past

  1. isn’t there a line that goes.

    “all the animals hear him Quack
    As he pecks the corn out of the sack.”

    i think it’s after the “farmyard where he likes to roam” and before “the young farm dog”

    i’m also blessed with the memory of this one as my little brother would have us read it to him over and over and over…

  2. Woohoo! Yes, yes, yes! Thanks, Dave — that’s almost as good as finding a copy. (Text above now corrected to accommodate your contribution.)
     
    Seriously, isn’t this the sort of reason that we need a copyright policy that would permit someone uploading PDFs of Danny Duck to the web?

  3. Thank you for posting this. My mum used to read this to me when I was little, and it used to be my favourite . Somewhere along the line,we lost the book.Lately, I was trying to recall the lines for my children and we couldn’t remember after the “pecks the corn from the sack”

    Thanks again. I can even the see the pictures the book had, in my mind.

  4. I have been looking for this book for my son, as he and his wife are expecting their first. Twins, a boy and a girl. My son loved this book as a toddler. At the time I could recite it on demand. Would love to get this for him to read to his children.

  5. Again, world, please let us know if someone finds a copy. Or even just scans the pages of an extant copy — it’s not as though the copyright police are manically combing the web to protect the intellectual property of Danny Duck.

    Edit:

    ISBN for Danny Duck is 0723575436. At the moment (3 Feb 2017) there are no copies available from online vendors.

  6. I had our original bath book copy which I passed on to my daughter for her son, who in passed it on to her brother for his son and looks at it in his bath at 5 months old

    1. Nigel, if someone could make good scans of those pages, we know a number of nostalgic parents and former-children who would love to see them again!

  7. As a result of Nigel’s kindness, I’m in a position to offer a PDF of Danny Duck to any interested inquirer…

    1. Would love a copy this was my daughter’s favorite book. She is now expecting her first child.

  8. I used to read this story to my brother born in 1983. It was a plastic/foam book.
    I could only remember the first half of the book and googled it to see if anyone had the words.
    Thanks for that 😊

  9. OMG!!!
    It’s taken me So long researching where I can buy this bath book & have just found you. All publishers have said no longer available. I would love to find & buy this book to read to my grandchildren as I read this beautiful soft foam bath book every evening to my children Please, please could you point me in the right direction?
    Thank you
    Connie

    1. Connie, I wish I could help you. I think it’s just a collector’s item (ironically), and you have to keep your eyes open for it on the used book marketplace.

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