Gay Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
By Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Dutton Juvenile, 1968

Review by Pooja Makhijani
From Kahani Fall 2005

Have you ever had a pet? Or is your mother like mine, scared of dogs and cats and not-too-fond of gerbils and rabbits? Well, author Dhan Gopal Mukerji had a brave, affectionate pigeon when he was a boy. His award-winning book, Gay Neck: The Story of a Pigeon (Dutton, 1927), tells the tale of a beautiful pigeon named Gay Neck who was raised in India and carried messages to and from the Bengal Regiment in France during World War I. This story of Gay Neck also reveals what life was like for a boy growing up in India during that time period.

Mukerji (1890-1936) grew up in a small village near Calcutta near the edge of a jungle. He emigrated to the United States in 1910 and studied at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University. He is often considered the first successful Indian-American writer of children’s literature in the United States. He wrote numerous stories based on the people, animals, and events that he encountered during his boyhood.

The intelligence and the personality of Gay Neck is brought out beautifully in this book. The story brings the reader face to face with all creatures of the sky – eagles and hawks and, of course, pigeons. The reader encounters the same thrills of suspense, fear and joy as the animals who soar above the world.

Mukerji was in awe of nature and this book, as his many other books, illustrate this wonder and admiration. “The trees begin to appear taller and more terrible,” he writes in Gay Neck. “Bamboos soared upwards like sky-piercing minarets… Now and then, a flock of green parrots flung their emerald glory in the face of the sun, then vanished. Mammoth butterflies, velvety-black, swarmed from blossom to blossom, and innumerable small birds preyed on numberless buzzing flies.”

Gay Neck was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1928. Mukerji is the only South Asian-American to have ever received the award. The Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the American Library Association to the author of the most outstanding American book for children. It is considered one of the most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States.

Gay Neck is more than a seemingly simple story about a bird and his adventures; it is a book about the trauma of war, the courage of the individual, and the loving bond between a boy and his pet.