Review by Booklist Review
It's hard to imagine a cozier story. Little Goose, a yellow gosling with a penchant for things that roll (balls, marbles, the number 8, the letter O), is trying to figure out why the concept of round is so comforting. Following a tried-and-true plot, the young animal moves along the beach to ask a series of amiable animals to solve his dilemma. Turtle notes his round rock makes him happy but Little Goose just falls off. Frog says take a look at the flies zipping around in a circular fashion but they just make Little Goose dizzy. Finally the gosling returns to his mother, where he finds that it is her embracing wings (not an egg, which some readers may predict) that he finds so wonderful. Idealistically rendered in whisper-soft pencil, the book has an old-fashioned appeal; except for one zany spread of Little Goose crammed into a mouse hole, the perspectives are kept as regular and soothing as the text. Occasional words in boldface like Little Goose's refrain of Hoinkle-oinkle! make this a fun read-aloud option.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Little Goose is reminded by balls, puddles, bubbles, and even the letter "O" of something that makes his eyes go round and round and evokes in him feelings of comfort and coziness. But just what do they remind him of? With his mother's encouragement and support, the gosling braves the big world to find out. While he meets new friends on his adventure, it isn't until he returns home to her warm embrace that he knows the answer. Soft colored-pencil illustrations fill the spreads with gentle images of the natural world, while the words provide reassuring repetition and rhyme. This is a perfect bedtime story for young readers, who will cheer Little Goose on through his quest and rejoice at his reunion with his mother.-Kim T. Ha, Elkridge Branch Library, MD Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Pebbles, bubbles, and buckets remind Little Goose of something that makes him happy, but what? To find out, he takes a tour around the pond, ending up back in his mother's encircling wings, and he remembers: round things call to mind Mother's hugs. Expressive colored-pencil illustrations highlighting Little Goose's interactions with the pond dwellers make this otherwise sentimental tale worth sharing one-on-one. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Downy yellow goose explores his small universe. Full of curiosity and excited by all the things around him at the beach, Little Goose sees 8s and os; they "make his eyes go walking, 'round and 'round without ever stopping" and remind him of something that makes him comfy and happybut what? When Mama gives him an enigmatic response, Little Goose sets off with a waddle and a wiggle in search of the answer himself (though all his wanderings remain under Mama's watchful eye as she swims in the distance). The turtle, the frog and the mouse all share the sources of their happiness. When Goose gets temporarily stuck in the mouse's hole, it sends him waddling back to Mama, and he finally remembers his happy place: her soft wing. Apple's full-bleed colored-pencil illustrations add appropriate warmth and gentleness to Mraz's fable, which, although more than a little precious in its contrivance and hardly original in presentation, is nevertheless in tune with a young target audience. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
