When Roger Duvoisin first introduced children to his proud and silly goose, Petunia, in 1950, it was love at first sight. Those children have grown...
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Jun 03, 2011
Kathryn
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3.5 STARS Petunia is always known as a silly goose, but one day she finds a book and remembers that she has seen the children of the farm with them under their arms on their way to and from school. She knows that books hold wisdom and so she decides to carry around the book under her wing so she can become wise. Of course, she doesn't gain a single bit of wisdom in that way, just a lot of pomposity, but the other animals are very impressed--until she starts to give them horrible advice. Of c
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Oct 17, 2010
Miss
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This is the first children's Christian book I've ever gotten.
In a charming tale set in a farmyard, Petunia the silly goose believes she has become wise just because she finds a book. All farm animals saw her carrying the book believed in her wisdom and seek her advice, and suffered horrible consequences from her unwise counsel, until she told everyone to open a box labeled "Candy" but instead, it was firecrackers and everyone got hurt.
At the end she realized:"Now I unde More...
In a charming tale set in a farmyard, Petunia the silly goose believes she has become wise just because she finds a book. All farm animals saw her carrying the book believed in her wisdom and seek her advice, and suffered horrible consequences from her unwise counsel, until she told everyone to open a box labeled "Candy" but instead, it was firecrackers and everyone got hurt.
At the end she realized:"Now I unde More...
Nov 24, 2011
This story is a fable about a duck who hears that if you own a book you must be wise. Once she acquires a book, she begins to believe that she is in fact very wise while becoming rather haughty about it. The other animals begin to ask her advice which she erroneously gives. At the end she realizes that not just owning a book makes you wise, but reading them is what can make one wise. This would be a good book to teach children about the importance of reading as it can provide endless amounts of
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Sep 21, 2011
Chandra
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This book is so awesomely 1950s vintage that it almost feels like a new book imitating a vintage style. This is one of those books that I feel certain I would have been deeply attached to had I read it in my childhood. It's just one of those books. As it stands my thirty-something year old self thinks it's pretty awesome. Petunia is a silly goose who stumbles upon a book and decides that by just owning it and carrying it around she will automatically become wise. Her barnyard friends are co
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Sep 27, 2011
Stephanie
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What a cute story. I love the moral of this story -appearing to be wise is not as good as BEING wise. Showing off books doesn't mean you have read them nor gained wisdom from them.
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Sep 24, 2009
Kara
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The overall concept of this book is that books equal knowledge, and not understanding a book can lead to catastrophe. This is a little extreme for children books I feel and might even scare young readers. Since the pictures are still from the 1950's, they are simple and cartoon like, which might not be appealing to all kids as the backgrounds are covered in pure whiteness. The advice Petunia gives is creative, but when the animals start getting injured and the truth is not being told, the book b
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Apr 11, 2010
Ronyell
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“Petunia” is the first book created by Roger Duvoisin from the “Petunia” series. In this adventure, Petunia mistakenly thinks that she is a wise animal when she stumbles upon a book lying on the ground and she how tries to give the other animals uncanny advice about their problems. “Petunia” is an excellent book about the importance of true wisdom that young children will enjoy for many years.
Roger Duvoisin has done an excellent job with both the illustrations and the writing for More...
Roger Duvoisin has done an excellent job with both the illustrations and the writing for More...
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Aug 10, 2011
karen
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so i am just finding out now that there are about a million other books about petunia, the silly goose!!
i must must must have them. this was one of my first books, and remains one of my favorites.
basically, there's this goose and she figures that if she waddles around with a book under her wing, then all the other animals will assume she is smart, even though she doesn't really know what books are for, just that they are associated with wisdom. she's just using it as a More...
i must must must have them. this was one of my first books, and remains one of my favorites.
basically, there's this goose and she figures that if she waddles around with a book under her wing, then all the other animals will assume she is smart, even though she doesn't really know what books are for, just that they are associated with wisdom. she's just using it as a More...
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Jul 17, 2011
Jen
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Petunia the goose discovers something she's never seen in the meadow one day. What could it be? Well, it's a book! She remembers Mr. Pumpkin telling Bill the little boy that "He who owns Books and loves them is wise." Petunia thinks that as long as she owns this book and loves it, she's wise and can share her knowledge with everyone. Her "knowledge" turns out to be not so great and when an accident occurs due to her "knowledge" Petunia learns a valuable lesson.
May 15, 2011
Mekeisha
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Excellent book written in 1950 for children. You could use this to teach so many things! Petunia is a duck who thinks she is wise because she found a book and carries it everywhere. She does not know how to read, but a friend once told her "He who owns books and loves them is wise." Other barn friends begin seeking her advice, until one day Petunia's pride puts her friends in danger.... great read, with lots of truths to be extracted!
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Mar 28, 2010
Dolly
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Petunia finds a book and carries it around with her, thinking that she is suddenly wiser than everyone else in the farmyard, with disastrous results. She discovers that "It was not enough to carry wisdom under my wing. I must put it in my mind and in my heart. And to do that I must learn to read."
Nice story and a good encouragement for children to learn to read.
Nice story and a good encouragement for children to learn to read.
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Dec 26, 2008
Joanna
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Silly Petunia. She thinks just carrying the book around makes you wise, until she learns a Valuable Lesson. This was a gentle and pleasant read-aloud, and Cameron loved it when the dynamite went BOOM. I do feel a bit sad for all the poor animals though. We kept talking about how Petunia means well, even when she gives very poor advice.
Sep 12, 2011
Mandy
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Petunia hears that books will make you wise, so she struts around the farmyard feeling wise and proud as she carries her book. The farm animals notice a change in Petunia and constantly come to her for some wise advise. But can wisdom be gained by merely holding a book?
Apr 10, 2009
Catherine
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Charming. Would be good for a library-intro, why reading is important type of storytime, if the group can sit through it. Love how Petunia's gets longer and longer the wiser she thinks she's getting.
Sep 27, 2010
Jackie
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Checked this one out from the library and reread with my little one. Such a good, classic book and a great springboard for discussion with kids about knowledge, wisdom, and judgement.
Jun 28, 2010
Bambi
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This was my favorite book as a child! I absolutely loved it! My kids love it now and it is just a classic children's book that every child should read!
Jul 04, 2011
Whitney
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I remember reading this book at my grandmother's house when I was young. I hope Emmeree enjoys it as much as I did.
Oct 31, 2011
Luann
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Oh, Petunia! What a silly goose you are!
Petunia the goose finds a book and remembers seeing Bill carrying one when he came home from school. She heard his father tell him that books are very precious and "He who owns Books and loves them is wise." She doesn't like being called a silly goose, so she carries the book with her everywhere and becomes very proud about how wise she now is. She starts to give advice to the other farm animals with sad and eventually explosive r More...
Petunia the goose finds a book and remembers seeing Bill carrying one when he came home from school. She heard his father tell him that books are very precious and "He who owns Books and loves them is wise." She doesn't like being called a silly goose, so she carries the book with her everywhere and becomes very proud about how wise she now is. She starts to give advice to the other farm animals with sad and eventually explosive r More...
Apr 03, 2009
Sophie
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This was a great book to read to children. They love how silly it is and they really enjoy the illustrations.
Aug 01, 2011
Kirei
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Petunia learns that learning is more important than just appearing wise.
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Feb 27, 2011
Heather
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21 months - not too sure we'll read this one again. I like the message about learning to read to become wise but not so thrilled about the path that Petunia took to get there. For little little kids it comes across as just a lot of lying. I do enjoy reading older books for the illustration style and a different approach to story telling.
Sep 07, 2011
Modboy
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Petunia finds a book and having heard that books provide wisdom becomes prideful. She gives advice to all the animals on the farm whether they ask for it or not. In the end she learns a valuable lesson. A well written story with excellent illustrations. I especially enjoyed the bright colors Duvoisin uses sparingly throughout the book.
Sep 10, 2010
Tiffany
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Fun read about a goose who learns what being wise REALLY means. (At first she assumes she is wise--because she has a book-- and goes around giving very bad advice in the barnyard. Mayhem ensues.)
Great book to discuss w/ kids: pride, as well as how to gain real wisdom.
Plus I love the awesome 70's illustrations. Yum.
Great book to discuss w/ kids: pride, as well as how to gain real wisdom.
Plus I love the awesome 70's illustrations. Yum.
Dec 08, 2010
Nicole
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I LOVE Petunia!!! This story is about a goose who finds a book and pretends that now she is very wise, but she ends up causing trouble because she hasn't opened that book.
