If this book was written now, it would probably be banned. And I’m not talking banned for DEI (as it is February 2025) but banned for guns. We don’t see the guns, but a character gets shot in a duck hunting accident. I don’t know if accidents is the right word. This book is about Elmer the duck. Elmer is just a little bit different. He is what used to be called a sissy. They like to play by themselves and play with the girls. Not into sports, not into macho things, just into being themselves. Dad finds that hard to take, and that his son should just try to be like everybody else. But Mom knows that being special is OK. This book was lovely, it was majorly sad. You have a happy ending, but this isn’t one of those happily ever after type endings. Because you still feel the sadness of Elmer‘s separation from his community. While I did like this book, I do see why it has not been reprinted. And being that it is exceptionally long. I mean exceptionally long for a picture book. Harvey Feinstein can write. That is no question. They are an author. But writing a picture book to be read over and over and over again, they might need a little more practice.