The Day the Goose got Loose

by Reeve Lindbergh, Steven Kellogg (Illustrator)

A long-necked mischief-maker flies the coop, setting off a series of chaotic events that culminates in an all-out stampede through the town, and two children hold the key to the goose's mishaps. Reprint. AB. K. SLJ.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Humor, School, Poetry

29 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Children's author, novelist, and poet Reeve Lindbergh is the daughter of world-renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife, the talented writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter picked this one out tonight: Daddy, this is one we haven't read in a looooooonnnggg time! She was right, I had forgotten all about it. Which I realize is not a great compliment, but it's not really an earth-shattering story. However, it is very clever, and is probably worth at least 4 stars. The illustrations are zany and hilarious, with an insane attention to detail. And it is told as a poem, with one of my favorite rhyming schemes of all time (a/b, b, b, a, notation not official!), which remains smooth and coherent throughout, with a little stanza for everyone in the family. It even has some racial diversity, although I admit it's hard to spot. It finishes with a beautiful, ethereal ending. Well done!

[T.E. Antonino · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of fun to read. That goose has some serious issues.

[Hannah Gies · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that rhymes is a big win for me honestly.

[Jourdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the goose gets loose, everything goes crazy. The ram got out and butted a young child! The horses were also able to escape with the goose's help and they caused a riot. It seems as if every animal on their farm was set free and was causing some kind of ruckus somewhere. It was later revealed that the wild geese were in on the escape and had tempted the goose. The character in the story talks about how the loose goose made her family feel angry and annoyed. When it came to how she felt, it was almost as if the loose goose brought her peace and happiness.

I really enjoyed the illustrations in this story. The way that they are organized is very interesting. They aren't full page pictures. They look like a shot of the scene surrounded in a white border. It is as if you are looking through a photo album of what it is like when the goose gets loose. The illustrations are also very detailed which allows for the reader to follow the story with ease.

I also enjoy how the text is set up. It is a rhyming story, which makes it more enjoyable to read aloud. There is also a lot of repetition to reiterate the plot of the story. I think this is really important for younger children, so that they are able to follow easier and understand what the situation is. The text is also spread out between images. It is not all written together which forces the reader to look over the entire page. It is all very well organized and needs to be read aloud.

[Colin]

This is a poetry book that was a lot of fun to read. In a nutshell a farm goose gets loose and just causes chaos all over a farm. The pictures in this book are great and can be used as discussion prompts in a class, for example, the facial expressions are priceless, a basic prompt could be; "what do you think this man is thinking". The rhyming is a lot of fun and there is one line of repetition between stanzas that students will repeat. "The day the goose got loose" is the said line. Like all poetry books if you read it with emotion, the enjoyment will be 10 times higher. The reading experience that I will carry with me will be my PreK students chanting the line for each page. It was a first for me that everyone picked up on the appropriate time to chant. If you are a teacher in the lower grades, this is an easy book for students to follow and be engaged in. For older students, this is a great mentor text that could be used to focus on an event and write a poem about the said event. As a whole class, small group, or individual. I will be adding this to my shelf.

[Malory Turnbull]

This book is a great way to introduce literacy to your classroom. Throughout the story there is a constant tone, the words rhymn. As well as bringing in literacy this book is a great way to show how illistrations can make a story so much better. This book has great art that shows a clear picture of what is going on, this is useful if i were to use the book with a younger group of students. I really enjoy reading this story even at my age I found it to be a fun silly book that brings a smile to your face. Students love when crazy adventure take place in stories and this book is an excellent adventure full of oppurtunties to make predicitions and get the students involved.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, but like some of the other books in my Down on the Farm category, many of the illustrations are too busy for a large group of kids. Might work well for a one-on-one, but I doubt it would work for more than a handful of kids. Nice rhymes.

[Sandra Y. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a goose who gets loose, in a farm, and all the chaos that ensues. Hilariously written in rhyming format, with wonderful illustrations that depicts exactly, the havoc the goose has created. I would recommend this book for first grade and up.

[Tristan Doane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows that a goose can be mischievous and be wild. It teaches the reader that there are reasons why everyone and everything can act bad, some reasons are good, others are bad. But all in all, it is a good book because of the pictures and the imagination.

[Peggy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations by Steven Kellogg so of course they're fantastic and add the comic element - but the rhyme is also very good - never really seems too forced. My seven year old enjoyed this one.

[Ellen Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Combines farm theme and poetry theme. Students joined in for the refrain 'The day the goose got loose".

[10-12 Jaycie · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWSOME!This book is funny! I love the laughs that shoot off as you read it.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the illustrations and the repetition.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the kind of book that is so much fun to read to an appreciative audience :->

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read at Toddler Lap Time at the Tenley library on 7/12/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Deborah Harris]

AR Quiz No. 7555 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 2.3 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew geese could be rabble rousers, but my God, this one takes it too far. The property damage alone is astounding, and the emotional havoc wrought upon this family is unconscionable. 5 Big Stars

[emyrose8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a poem-y type of book. Beautiful illustrations.

[SKP · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband and I are kind of into reading about the Lindbergh Kidnapping lately, and when I discovered that Reeve Lindbergh is a daughter of Charles and Anne Morris, and that she has written children’s books, I made it a point to get as many as I could. As a retired children’s librarian, I’d apparently read several of her books before without making the Lindbergh connection. Many of them are now out of print, but I got as many as I could via my public library and Amazon marketplace.

This particular book is one of the ones I definitely read before as it is illustrated by one of my all time favorite illustrators. I even did a project on Steven Kellogg in an illustration class in library school. This was not released until a few years after I graduated, but I have always continued to follow Steven Kellogg & I remember it. It is an adorable story and the illustrator was perfectly chosen for it. I loved this book! I do think the detail on Kellogg’s illustrations lend themselves best to one-on-one readings with children rather than a group storytime, but I wouldn’t have hesitated to use this with a small group (and probably did).

[Victoria Nesselroad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was about a family that had a farm and that had a goose. When there goose got loose on that day everything was crazy. In the story there was many different things that happened to me it was a big mess. The animals were going all crazy plus they were mad because the goose took some of the different animals food. So the animals were sad and they were mad all at the same time and the farmer was mad too.

For this book for teacher ideas I would use it for if it was animal week or anything like that. The other things i would use it for is rhyming because there was a lot in the book.

[Maureen Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. The illustrations are big and bold and colorful, and the poetry is rollicking and humorous. It's a great story, and also a really excellent introduction to rhyme schemes and poetic meter. I used to read this to one of my preschool students, and the enormous smiles he would give me were so beautiful that I bought him a copy of it for himself when he graduated. It's an excellent read-aloud just for fun and relaxation, or it could be a great addition to a poetry study for all levels.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny poem about a goose who breaks free from the confines of his farm and runs a-squawk causing hilarious chaos. A child and his granny watch on, and the boy admires the goose that Goosey found the freedom he deserves, leaving the boy the freedom to dream at night of geese getting loose and flying freely South. Funny, touching and dreamy in unexpected areas, a great kids book to treasure.
Four stars
Goose is Loose, so can YOU'SE!

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale told in rhyme of the havoc caused by the family pet that got loose on the farm, and all the mischief it caused with the other farm animals. No one seemed to know what went through the goose's head when it got loose. But the son and daughter knew what it was thinking the day the goose got loose.

[Alysa Fenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a silly sort of book with really pretty pictures. It would be good as a read-together book, or for someone in first or second grade, I'm guessing based on the vocabulary in the text and overall short story. Children who enjoy books about animals or farms would enjoy this story. Also, perhaps someone who is a bit of a trouble maker since this goose causes quite the ruckus.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When the goose got loose she caused a riot.” Thus the story starts and we watch as the goose makes hens mad, scares sheep, provokes a bull named Spence and destroys Dad’s morning routine.

Great pictures. Lots of humor

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This caught my eye at the local coffee shop. I have an autographed Reeve Lindbergh at home (Under a Wing), and enjoyed her limerick rhymes. Also recognized the illustrator as the same from The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash. The dream scene is particularly riveting.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun story in rollicking rhyme! The day the goose got loose the whole farm was disturbed from their quiet life. "When the goose got loose she caused a riot." Fun and funny, and wonderfully illustrated.

[Hope Irvin Marston · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amusing rhymed tale of mayhem that will hold the interests of young children who love humor and detailed drawings to ponder...with not too much distracting text.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

AR 2.3

[K Morlando · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read for our Farm unit