Bette Midler Picture Book Spotlights a Rare Duck
By Sally Lodge
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Feb 18, 2021
The mysterious appearance in October 2018 of a rainbow-hued bird in Manhattan’s Central Park inspired Bette Midler’s
The Tale of the Mandarin Duck: A Modern Fable, a picture book featuring full-color photographs by Michiko Kakutani and black-and-white illustrations by Joana Avillez. Released this week by Random House with a 100,000-copy print run, the book underscores the power of an extraordinary creature to bring city dwellers together and to focus on the natural beauty around them rather than on their cell phones.
Kakutani’s photos laid the groundwork for the project. This longtime regular visitor to Central Park, who told