Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Mindi can't sleep: there's a big, scary goose in her room that enters "as quietly as a thought comes into your head," but her parents don't see it. Ólafsdóttir (Play?) represents it as a sinuous, goose-shaped shadow of various objects in the child's room. "Well, you'll just have to close your eyes and make it not real," her mother says. Mindi's father, meanwhile, consults a wise old farmer named Austen, walking to Austen's hillside farm, then returning there with Mindi. A young goat strolls into the kitchen, and Mindi asks its name. "Oh, I have so many goats that I have run out of names," Austen says. "I would call her Black-and-Whitey," Mindi says. "Perfect," he responds. And his solution to Mindi's goose problem is similarly collaborative and respectful. Winsome mixed-media spreads and vignettes by Ólafsdóttir alternate between the white characters' cozy interiors and farm scenes, while chapter book--like writing by McBratney (Guess How Much I Love You) develops Austen as a character by witnessing the way he attends to Black-and-Whitey's needs, prefiguring the way he will attend to Mindi's. McBratney shows what it's like to listen authentically to children--and to believe them. Ages 3--7. (Mar.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1--The late McBratney presents a novel approach to the perpetual childhood need for an imaginary friend, this time a large invisible goose who is a bit cumbersome, and who sends a young white girl, Mindi, into her parents' bed repeatedly. Her father, recalling an older gentleman, Austen, who is a problem-solver, sets off on a journey. The illustrations have an old-fashioned look: idyllic mountainous green pastures and wooden fences; tidy farm animals and well-intentioned folk of, perhaps, northern European descent in snug knickers; Scandinavian sweaters; Wellingtons; and wool caps. Mindi faces a choice. To receive a baby goat from Austen to care for and call her own, she must let Austen have the large goose that no one else can see. The baby goat wins, but when Mindi's father visits Austen to give thanks, the old gentleman does indeed have a new goose. VERDICT Crisp retro watercolors and a gentle story are knit into a warm and tender tale.--Kimberly Olson Fakih, School Library Journal
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A loving father and a wise neighbor find a way for Mindi's invisible goose to depart. Mindi's goose, seen as a large and looming shadow on her bedroom wall, "came into her room as quietly as a thought…and…stayed there for as long as it wanted to." Children will understand that Mindi can't get rid of the goose on her own. Mindi's father hikes over the hills to visit Austen, a "wise old man" who helps others with "sensible advice." Austen asks that Mindi journey with her father to visit. Austen allows her to feed a young goat some apricots. "If she likes you she will give you back the stone." The hidden stones of the apricots and, later, plums returned by the little goat to Mindi's hand seem poetic and meaningful. The little girl gives the heretofore nameless kid a pragmatic name: Black-and-Whitey. When, a week later, Austen arrives at Mindi's house, little goat in tow, and tells Mindi that the goat is hers in exchange for "the big goose no one else can see," Mindi's mother's expression is amusing. McBratney's posthumously published tale is filled with a gentle kindness, and the illustrations pick up on that, both treating the child's fear with respect. Ólafsdóttir's country scenes are tidy and filled with sunlight, Austen's many animals look contented, and a young goat bounces across the endpapers. All the characters are White. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.6-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.1% of actual size.) Low-key and reassuring. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
