Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture
The Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture is a beloved public art installation located in the Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, depicting the eight mallard ducklings and their mother, Mrs. Mallard, from the classic 1941 children's book Make Way for Ducklings written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. Created by sculptor Nancy Schön, the bronze sculpture has stood in the garden since 1987 and has become among the most recognized and visited public artworks in New England. The installation pays tribute to a story that has long been associated with Boston's civic identity, celebrating both the literary heritage of the city and the enduring importance of the Public Garden as a public space for residents and visitors alike.
History
The origins of the Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture trace back to the publication of Robert McCloskey's picture book in 1941. The story follows Mr. and Mrs. Mallard as they search for a safe place to raise their family, eventually settling in the Public Garden after a journey through the streets of Boston with the help of a sympathetic police officer. McCloskey's illustrations were notably accurate in their depiction of Boston's geography, featuring recognizable landmarks such as the Beacon Hill neighborhood, the Charles River Esplanade, and the famous swan boats of the Public Garden. The book won the Caldecott Medal in 1942, cementing its place in American children's literature and deepening its connection to Boston's cultural identity.
The sculpture itself was commissioned in the 1980s as part of a broader civic effort to honor the book's legacy and its association with Boston. Nancy Schön, a Massachusetts-based sculptor known for her figurative bronze works, was selected to create the piece. Schön conducted extensive research to ensure that the ducklings and Mrs. Mallard were rendered with anatomical accuracy, reportedly studying real mallard ducks during the creative process. The final installation, unveiled in 1987, consists of nine bronze figures arranged in a line along a walking path in the garden, with Mrs. Mallard leading the procession and her eight ducklings — Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack — following closely behind. The ducklings are named in the sculpture's accompanying signage after the characters in McCloskey's book.
The placement of the sculpture in the Public Garden was intentional and historically resonant. The Public Garden, established in 1837, was the first public botanical garden in the United States, and it has served as a central green space for Bostonians for nearly two centuries. By situating the sculpture there, civic leaders and the artist reinforced the connection between McCloskey's fictional narrative and the real geography of Boston, grounding the story in the landscape that inspired it.
Culture
The Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture occupies a significant place in Boston's cultural landscape, functioning not simply as a piece of decorative art but as a civic symbol with broad community resonance. The sculpture is particularly associated with families and young children, who are frequently photographed sitting on and interacting with the figures. Unlike many public sculptures that discourage physical contact, the ducklings are designed to be touched and climbed upon, making them an interactive attraction in a city otherwise known for its formal historical monuments.
Each year, the sculpture serves as the focal point for the Make Way for Ducklings Parade, an annual event held in the Public Garden that draws families from across the Boston metropolitan area. Participants dress in duck costumes and parade through the garden in imitation of the book's famous procession, a tradition that has helped sustain intergenerational awareness of McCloskey's work. The event is organized by community groups and has become a beloved springtime ritual in the city's cultural calendar. Boston's identity as a city friendly to families and literary tourism has been reinforced over decades in part through celebrations like this one.[1]
The sculpture's cultural reach extends well beyond Boston. A replica of the Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture was gifted to the city of Moscow, Russia, in 1991 as a gesture of goodwill during a period of improving diplomatic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. The gift, presented by then-First Lady Barbara Bush to Raisa Gorbachev, was intended as a symbol of friendship between the two nations and reflected the international recognizability of McCloskey's story and Schön's artwork. That replica is located in Novodevichy Park in Moscow and has itself become a notable attraction. The gesture underscored the degree to which the Make Way for Ducklings story — and by extension the Boston sculpture — had transcended its origins as a local children's tale to become a piece of shared cultural heritage.
The sculpture has also been the subject of occasional controversy and community dialogue, particularly during periods of social unrest in the United States. During various protest movements, activists have dressed the duckling figures in symbolic accessories or costumes to make political statements, a practice that has sparked debate about the appropriate use of public artworks as vehicles for expression. The city has generally treated such modifications as temporary and non-damaging, allowing the ducklings to return to their original state without lasting harm to the bronze figures.
Attractions
The Public Garden itself serves as the primary attraction surrounding the Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture, and visitors to the sculpture typically incorporate a visit to the broader garden into their experience. The garden covers approximately twenty-four acres in the heart of downtown Boston and features formal flower beds, majestic weeping willow trees, a picturesque suspension bridge over the garden's central lagoon, and the famous Swan Boats, which have operated on the lagoon since 1877. The Swan Boats are a seasonal attraction, operating from spring through early fall, and their presence reinforces the connection to McCloskey's story, in which Mr. and Mrs. Mallard observe the boats during their search for a nesting site.
The sculpture is situated near the park's entrance at the corner of Charles Street and Beacon Street, making it easily accessible from several of Boston's most prominent neighborhoods. Visitors arriving from Beacon Hill, the Back Bay neighborhood, or the MBTA Green Line stop at Arlington Street can reach the sculpture within a short walk. The placement near the garden's entrance ensures that the ducklings are one of the first features visitors encounter when entering from this direction, giving them a prominent position in the visitor experience.
Beyond the sculpture and the garden itself, the surrounding area offers numerous complementary attractions. The Massachusetts State House, with its distinctive golden dome, is visible from the garden along Beacon Street. The Boston Common, which borders the Public Garden to the north, is the oldest public park in the United States and offers additional green space, historic monuments, and community events throughout the year. Together, the Public Garden and the Boston Common form a continuous corridor of open space at the heart of the city, and the Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture serves as a natural anchor point within that larger civic landscape.[2]
For visitors traveling with children, the sculpture is frequently cited as an essential stop on a Boston itinerary, alongside visits to the Boston Children's Museum, the New England Aquarium, and the Freedom Trail. The interactive nature of the figures, combined with the familiarity of the source material, makes the installation accessible and engaging for young visitors in a way that many formal historical monuments are not.
Geography
The Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture is situated within the Public Garden at the intersection of Charles Street and Beacon Street in central Boston. The Public Garden is bounded by Arlington Street to the east, Boylston Street to the south, Charles Street to the west, and Beacon Street to the north. This location places the sculpture at the intersection of several prominent Boston neighborhoods, including Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and Midtown. The garden and surrounding area sit at a relatively low elevation compared to the surrounding neighborhoods, as Beacon Hill rises steeply to the north and west of the park.
The geography of the surrounding area closely mirrors the landscape described and illustrated in McCloskey's book. The Charles River, which features prominently in the story as the Mallards' original habitat before their move to the Public Garden, flows approximately half a mile to the northwest of the sculpture's location. The Esplanade, a narrow park running along the Boston side of the Charles River, is accessible via the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge from the Back Bay neighborhood. This geographic continuity between the real Boston landscape and the fictional landscape of the book has been a consistent source of appeal for visitors who approach the sculpture as a form of literary tourism, retracing the route of the Mallard family through the city's streets and waterways.
The microclimate of the Public Garden is shaped by its combination of tree canopy, open lawn, and the central lagoon, which moderates temperatures slightly compared to the surrounding urban streetscape. The garden experiences all four seasons distinctly, and the appearance of the sculpture changes considerably across the year, from winter scenes where snow accumulates on the bronze figures to spring and summer visits when surrounding flower beds are in bloom.