Duey's Tale

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. First Edition [stated] later printing. Hardcover. Very good/Good. Arnold Skolnick (Photographer) and Gary Azon (Phot. The format is approximately 7.25 inches by 8 inches. [4], 59, [1] pages. Illustrations. Music and Lyrics to Duey's Song. Star stamped inside the rear cover. Some endpaper discoloration noted. Signed with sentiment on the half-title page. Reads Love Pearl Bailey. DJ has a small edge tear at the back. A maple seedling becomes separated from his mother tree, makes friends with a bottle and a log, and searches for his own place in life. Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 - August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer and author. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She received a Special Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968. In 1986, she won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance as a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool Special Cindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale. Her rendition of "Takes Two to Tango" hit the top ten in 1952. In 1976, she became the first African-American to receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on October 17, 1988. In 1941, during World War II, Bailey toured the country with the USO, performing for American troops. After the tour, she settled in New York. Her solo successes as a nightclub performer were followed by acts with entertainers such as Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. In 1969 Bailey was recognized as USO's woman of the year. In 1975, she was appointed special ambassador to the United Nations by President Gerald Ford, a position she held under three presidents. This was a Coretta Scott King Award Winning Book in 1976. Derived from a Kirkus review: . Duey is a baby seed, stirring with the others in his mother's leafy skirt until the wind blows him away -- and down the river with a log named Gabby and Slicker, a motherly bottle. They are parted, but Duey later runs across Gabby, now an elegantly carved walking stick ("Man oh man oh man, let me tell you about my operation"), and Slicker, displayed in a sailmaker's shop window, and eventually settles down himself as a fine young tree, happy to be noticed by a young couple who sit at his feet. An uplifting, feel good story that the entire family can enjoy. Additionally, it is likely very healthy reading, since the seedling is high in fiber.