The Handsome Little Cygnet - by Matthew Mehan (Hardcover)

About the Book

From best-selling author and illustrator team Matthew Mehan and John Folley, this wonderful and surprising revision of the Ugly Duckling will please the whole family with beautiful prose and page after page of lush watercolor illustrations. Even enjoy a seek-n-find in the back of the book, learning about the landmarks and wildlife of Central Park, among other amusing mysteries.

Book Synopsis

A swan must waddle before a swan can fly!

Manhattan's Central Park seems an unlikely place for a family of swans to raise their baby cygnet, but family life is full of surprises, happy mistakes, and mysterious joys. Join Father and Mother Swan and their Handsome Little Cygnet as they paddle through four beautifully illustrated seasons in Central Park. Smile a lot--and cry just a little--as you follow the journey of a baby swan who grows up to learn what and who he really is.

From best-selling author and illustrator team Matthew Mehan and John Folley, this wonderful and surprising revision of the Ugly Duckling will please the whole family with beautiful prose and page after page of lush watercolor illustrations. Even enjoy a seek-n-find in the back of the book, learning about the landmarks and wildlife of Central Park, among other amusing mysteries.

Review Quotes

As I choose stories for my children, I tend to be picky. Picture books are powerful. They are also fun, which is why I love reading to my children so much. Now that we've read "The Handsome Little Cygnet" together, I'm glad to add it to my shelf alongside "Blueberries for Sal" and "The Story of Ping."

-Anna Mussmann, The Federalist

"...beauty, grace and order attend the home life of a family of swans--mother, father and fluffy gray cygnet..." --Wall Street Journal review entitled "Children's Books: Picturing Love"

-Wall Street Journal review entitled Children's Books: Picturing Love

About the Author

Matthew Mehan is a poet, scholar, teacher, speech writer, and musician. He is dear friends with illustrator John Folley. He earned a Ph.D. studying Shakespeare's teachings on poetry as an indispensable part of a free, just, and peaceful society. He teaches in Washington, DC, where he lives with his wonderful wife, Molly, and their own brood of handsome and beautiful little cygnets, who love to listen to his bedtime stories.

John Folley is trained in Academic and Impressionist painting with a pedigree that reaches back to the workshops of the Renaissance of Northern Italy. He lives in the Boston, Massachusetts area with his wife, Deirdre, and their children. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in Fine Arts and Philosophy.