Reviews for The day the goose got loose
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
A frisky goose dashes about the farmyard, freeing chickens, horses, sheep, and cattle--and creating the sort of glorious chaos that is this inimitable illustrator's specialty. Adults can't figure out what prompted the goose's extraordinary behavior, but the children know: ""When the goose got loose/My brother knew why./He heard the wild geese flying high. . ."" Peace is restored in time for bed and swirling dreams of flight. Comically exaggerated events, energetic rhyming text, and rambunctious pictures complement each other perfectly. Copyright ŠKirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
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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. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Fiction: and the line-and-watercolor pictures are active and humorous Age: spilling into the margins of each page."" Horn Rating: Superior, well above average. Reviewed by: When the goose got loose / She caused a riot. / Nobody ever thought she'd try it! / There wasn't any more peace and quiet. / The day the goose got loose."""" Rollicking rhyme tells the story of the errant (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Ages 3-6. As the innocent agent of barnyard chaos, Jimmy's famous boa now has a serious rival. An insouciant goose unlocks her pen and ventures out to explore the farm; rhymed verses chronicle the disasters: "When the goose got loose / The cows were tense. / The goose provoked a bull named Spence. / He charged right through the pasture fence! / The day the goose got loose." Toward sunset, the tone shifts as the children discover that the bird escaped because it longs to follow the wild geese flying in formation overhead. Grandmother ruminates, "I wonder what thoughts went through her head," and one child falls asleep to dream of geese winging their way to a dream landscape, part fairytale, part peaceable kingdom. Both the poem and the artwork navigate the challenging shift from the ridiculous to the sublime with seemingly effortless grace. Kellogg, a master of comic mayhem, shows another side of his artistry in the dream sequence, depicting flight through overlapping images of geese, stars, and wings. The impressionistic watercolor paintings are shadowy, shot with golden light, and as ineffably joyous as the dream of freedom. As in Kellogg's earlier comic romps, the illustrations brim over with humorous bits, but here observant children can also find details foreshadowing the more serious theme expressed at the end. ~--Carolyn Phelan
