Where the Wild Geese Go: 2

In order to save her sick grandmother, Truzjka embarks on a fanciful journey to find the answer to the question of where the wild geese go.

Grade 1-5 One night dreamy and irresponsible Truzjka hears a gabbling cry, and dreams of shadows in the moonlight. The next morning her grandmother is ill and will die unless she can discover where the wild geese go. Truzjka rushes off impulsively to find out. A berry woman tells her how to find her way and gives her some magic gifts; with these and some help from unexpected sources, she finally finds the geese. While they carry her home, she begins to turn into a goose, and she frantically plucks out her feathers, falling through the chimney into her own bed. Her grandmother tells her she has been ill and insists her whole adventure was a fever dream, but Truzjka has retained some souvenirs of her adventure. The story combines elements of mystical fantasy and moral tale. Truzjka is helped on her way by assorted magical creatures, but the dangers she encounters are all related to her own shortcomingsfaults she abandons on the journey. The full-page illustrations match the romanticism of the tale, and are skillfully drawn and lushly colored, but the composition of the paintings is often awkward. This problem is almost redeemed by the magic of the blue and silver winter landscapes through which Truzjka travels, wrapped in her rich blue robe. Henterly has planted numerous visual symbols in the paintings for observant children: a ``flying geese'' quilt on the bed, and geese and stag shapes scattered throughout the book. While the storytelling lacks the structure and richness of works by George MacDonald and Andersen, it shares their timeless and mystical qualities and will appeal to somewhat younger readers of fantasy. Eleanor K. MacDonald, Palos Verdes Library District, Calif.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.