rather than the traditional black-and-white pictures found in most children's books of the day, received the 1942 Caldecott Medal, and has continued to garner praise years after its first publishing. The illustrations accurately depict the ducks and the city and emphasizes the point-of-view of the ducklings. Each of the eight ducklings shows individual characteristics, similar to children walking in a line. They are either "bored, inquisitive, sleepy, or they are scratching, talking over their backs one to another, running to catch up with the line". The book's message is comforting to children because it shows parents as caretakers, protectors, and teachers, and the ducklings who behave as ducks eventually find safety. According to fellow Caldecott winner Paul O. Zelinsky, "I realized that if the action in the drawings were to move from left to right, the ducks could not have been shown passing the Corner Book Shop, which is a wonderful detail in the story ... He clearly knew these streets very well." Reaction Sales and republication Make Way for Ducklings has been continuously in print since it was first published. As of 2003, the book had sold over two million copies. The story has also been published in paperback and audiobook. Viking publishing planned to release a 75th-anniversary edition of the classic in March 2016. Critical commentary When it was first released in 1941, Ellen Buell of The New York Times called the book "one of the merriest we have had in a long time", praising the understated comedic aspect of the procession down Beacon Street, as well as McCloskey's "fine large pictures" which simultaneously demonstrate "economy of line" and "wealth of detail". One critic, Alice Fannin, says the "loosely plotted" story gives no true explanation for why Mr. Mallard leaves the island in the Charles River or why the Mallards did not simply stay on the lagoon island in the first place and avoid the bicyclists on the shore. However, McCloskey has stated himself that he thinks of himself as an artist who writes children's books and not vice versa. Fannin also finds the characterization lacking, that is, the Mallards represent "rather stereotypically concerned parents", often showing the same facial expressions and rarely showing expressiveness. Another critic has positively commented on McCloskey's use of page breaks as a pacing technique. McCloskey's use of one-sentence pages forces the reader to quickly turn the page, enhancing the sense of motion,