NEW YORK — Bette Midler is using words and pictures to tell a New York story.
Midler's picture book “The Tale of the Mandarin Duck” will be published Feb. 16, Random House Books for Young Readers announced Thursday. With a story based on a real duck seen in Central Park in 2018, the book combines Midler's words, photographs by former New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani and illustrations by Joana Avillez.
Midler said in a statement she thought of the book after seeing Kakutani's pictures of the duck in the park.
“It came to me practically overnight: the duck that had enchanted an entire city,” she said. “The real duck’s visit to New York was a cause for celebration; everyone who saw him fell instantly in love. I wanted to memorialize his visit, and let readers know that the natural world is full of creatures just like him, if we only take the time to raise our eyes and actually see them.”
The Associated Press
