The Day the Goose Got Loose

The day the goose gets loose, havoc reigns at the farm as all the animals react

When the goose gets loose, the farm is in comical chaos. Each animal and person reacts in its own way, but only the younger brother knows why the goose got loose--because he saw the wild geese flying overhead. At night the boy dreams a wonderful dream about geese--tame and wild--with castles and wizards and other magical things. Like Lindbergh's The Midnight Farm (Dial, 1987), the satisfying rhyme and rhythm of this book make it a good choice for reading aloud. Both the story and illustrations are reminiscent of The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash (Dial, 1980), in which Noble's text and Kellogg's illustrations show the havoc caused by a pet snake let loose on a farm. The illustrations are typically Kellogg, rendered in pen and pencil with watercolor washes. The pages overflow with funny dramatic action. They are rich in detail and imagination, from the glowing orange panorama of the farm at dawn to the soft blue of the dream world at night. --Anne Price, Ann Mersereau School, Bronx, NY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

What happens when the goose gets loose? She manages to throw the entire barnyard into chaos, and young readers will be tickled by the goings-on. After breaking out of her pen, the audacious creature eats the hens' grain; scares the sheep silly; causes the ram to butt a fussy-looking child, whose "dress got messed and her hair un-styled"; sets free the horses, who storm the house; and provokes a bull named Spence to charge through the pasture fence. Lindbergh's rollicking rhymed verse charts the goose's destructive course, as Kellogg shows feathers and flowerpots flying, trashcans tumbling and wild-eyed people and animals scurrying in every direction. The goose calms down, finally, after the police arrive to set things right, and before long an explanation for her antics surfaces. The book closes with a soothing, exquisitely illustrated dream sequence that offsets the frenzy of the rest of the tale, and demonstrates Kellogg's remarkable versatility. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.