about the book
Heather is very excited about summer vacation, even more so when she finds a baby wild duckling in the garden. She begs her father to let her keep the little duck as a pet. He warns her that she can love him just enough to help him grow up, and then she must let him go to be a real wild duck.
Heather promises not to love him too much and names the duckling Mr. Peet. With her father’s guidance, she keeps the little duckling safe and warm. As she goes about the chores at Hazel Ridge Farm, the little duckling waddles right behind her.
As summer progresses, the duckling grows bigger. Heather teaches him how to swim and where to look for bugs to eat and how to fly.
Then one autumn day, Mr. Peet disappears. For ten days, Heather doesn’t see her feathered pet, and she is really concerned. Her dad reassures her that she had done a good job. She loved him just enough so that he grew up to be a fine wood duck. Now he is where he is supposed to be, in his own place in nature.
about the author
As a youngster, Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen often brought orphaned or injured animals home to care for. She was a middle child in a family of six sisters and was the family’s entertainer, often telling elaborate stories, mostly about animals. Her parents encouraged her to make her hobby her career, so she went to Michigan State University to become an animal technician. She met her husband, artist Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen, at a clinic where she worked. They married and have raised two beautiful animal-loving daughters, Heather and Kelly.
Robbyn and Gijsbert and their daughters all keep journals. In 2000, the husband and wife team used those journals to collaborate on their first book, about a Great Horned Owl named Jackson. After raising him, they tried to release him back into the wild, but Jackson much preferred living with his human family on their 40-acre farm!
That farm, Hazel Ridge, began as a sheep farm, but over the next twenty years, the van Frankenhuyzens have planted thousands of trees, dug ponds, and created many different eco-systems. Now it is a refuge for Michigan’s diverse fauna and flora. Folks leave injured or orphaned animals on their front door step. They know Robbyn and her family will give them good care.
Sources:
Author website
Video book review: I Love You Just Enough
Also by Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen:
Itsy Bitsy & Teeny Weeny (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 4). Sleeping Bear Press. 2009.
Kelly of Hazel Ridge (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 3). Sleeping Bear Press. 2006.
Saving Samantha (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 2). Sleeping Bear Press. 2004.
Adopted by an Owl : The True Story of Jackson the Owl (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 1). Sleeping Bear Press. 2001.
about the illustrator
Gijsbertus van Frankenhuyzen (pronounced Heis-bet-is von Frank-en-hous-zuer) was born in the Netherlands. He didn’t like his name—It was far too long! Even in third grade, he couldn’t spell out his whole name, so the first thing he did was drop off the “us” at the end. Then he just stopped using his last name. Finally he just switched to Nick. It stands for nickname!
Very early in life, he became interested in observing and studying nature and wildlife. Every Sunday his father would take Gijsbert and his seven brothers and sisters into the woods to explore. It became Gijsbert’s classroom where he would spend hours observing and sketching.
He studied graphic design at the Royal Academy of Arts, and after graduation he was employed as a commercial artist and photographer. He immigrated to Michigan in the United States in 1976 and became the art director for the Michigan Natural Resources Magazine. He was there seventeen years before he turned to painting full time in 1993. He lives on a lovely forty acre farm in Bath. Besides illustrating books written by his wife Robbyn, Gijsbert paints fine art paintings and large murals that can be found in museums, zoos, and park exhibits as well as many other places.
As wildlife rehabilitators, he and Robbyn and their two daughters Heather and Kelly have cared for foxes, fawns, possums, skunks, raccoons, rabbits, hawks, and owls. They have been doing it for more than twenty years! The stories Robbyn writes are based on their true adventures caring for all these animals.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator video presentation: Kalamazoo Public Library
Also by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen:
F Is for Friendship : A Quilt Alphabet by Helen L. Wilbur. Sleeping Bear Press. 2011.
Itsy Bitsy & Teeny Weeny (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 4) by Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen. Sleeping Bear Press. 2009.
Kelly of Hazel Ridge (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 3) by Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen. Sleeping Bear Press. 2006.
Challenger : America’s Favorite Eagle by Margot Theis Raven. Sleeping Bear Press. 2005.
Saving Samantha (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 2) by Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen. Sleeping Bear Press. 2004.
Adopted by an Owl : The True Story of Jackson the Owl (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 1) by Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen. Sleeping Bear Press. 2001.
read more!
Out of the Blue by Alison Jay
In this wordless story, a boy who lives in a lighthouse likes to explore the beach with his cat and dog and a girl. One day after a storm, they discover a giant octopus trapped in a net on the shore. With the help of dolphins, whales, and seals, they all work together to rescue the octopus. Check out the back of the book for more information on sea life, giant octopus, tides, tide pools, lighthouses, and the danger garbage poses to sea life.
Saving Samantha (Hazel Ridge Farm Story, Book 2) by Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen
Robbyn lives on a farm, rescuing and caring for injured and orphaned animals. She finds a fox pup caught in a trap, takes it home, and names it Samantha. She nurses it back to health and trains it to be a wild fox. It even attacks the rooster, Igor! In the end, Samantha has pups of her own which she raises in the wild with her mate. The story is peppered with excerpts from the author’s own journal.
Saving Squeak : The Otter Tale by Jennifer Keats Curtis
A young human named Braden rescues an orphaned baby otter in a park. Thinking quickly, he calls a wildlife rehabilitator to help nurse the otter back to health. Braden names the otter Squeak, hoping to keep him as a pet, but the rehabilitator explains to Braden what really is best for Squeak.