BooBoo

Gossie and Friends

by Olivier Dunrea

BooBoo is a curious blue gosling who likes to eat. She likes to eat everything. Well, almost everything.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Food, Juvenile, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2004

About the author

Since his debut in 1983, author and illustrator Olivier Dunrea has created a steady stream of picture books, including concept books, stories of family life—modern and ancient—and stories about artists. Many of Dunrea's picture books testify to his love of animals and his interest in archaeology and folklore of the British Isles, and several—including Ravena, The Trow-Wife's Treasure, and Bear Noel—take place in a similar land of Dunrea's own creation: the mythic island of Moel Eyris. "I don't write books or make pictures for children," Dunrea once told Something About the Author (SATA). "I make them for myself. It just so happens that children like what I do as much as I do!"

Olivier (Jean-Paul Dominique) Dunrea (1953-) Biography - Personal, Career, Member, Writings, Sidelights

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be careful what you eat! Good lesson for small children.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

My local doesn't have this one, so I had not gotten around to it. But, la! The state-wide electronic collection does. Read all the books.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice read it all by herself! She only got hung up on the word "trough" which was just an unfair phonics nightmare word.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gossie and Friends features baby geese, also known as goslings, as the main characters of the series of books. The characters include Gossie, Gertie, Ollie, BooBoo, Gideon, Jasper, Joop, Gus, and Gemma. These are Level One readers and perfect for children just learning to read as they are cute stories and easy enough to keep your children engaged and encouraged at reading on their own. In addition to most of the characters having their own books, there are books that feature two of the goslings and seasonal books too, including one for Christmas, Easter, and an upcoming one for Halloween. The stories are also easy to relate to. In Gideon and Otto, we see Gideon going everywhere with his favorite toy Otto, until he loses him one day and has to find him. This is a horror that child and grown up alike can relate to. Jasper and Joop is an odd couple book with one clean gosling and one dirty gosling. Gemma and Gus is a book about siblings. However, my son's favorite of the series (at the moment, because I'm sure it will change more than once) is BooBoo. BooBoo is a lot like my son. He is blue. My son loves the color blue. BooBoo eats all the time. My son is eating me out of house and home. BooBoo ate bubbles. My son loves bubbles. BooBoo burped after eating the bubbles. My son thinks burping is hilarious and tries to imitate the sound, but thankfully hasn't mastered it yet. All the stories are charming and the watercolor illustrations are simple enough that they captivate the young eyes without overpowering them. This is a great beginner's series to read to your child and then have them read to you when they are able to.

[KidsBooksWorthReading · Rating 5 out of 5]

They can be tough to find, but there are some great boardbooks out there. These are a part of a series that started with the book Gossie. They are short, adorable stories about goslings. The illustration details are darling. The stories are simple and repeat a bit, they would be perfect for new readers as well as little babes! We also had to share BooBoo, it's our favorite. She likes to eat from morning till night. So dang cute. #kidsbooks #kidsbooksworthreading #childrensbooks #kidlit #boardbook #olivierdunrea #hmhbooks #childrensliterature #gosling #kidsbookstagram

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

BooBoo (Gossie & Friends) by Olivier Dunrea focues on a curious blue gosling who like to eat everything - almost.

BooBoo eats everwhere she goes. BooBoo eats her food, grapes, the hen's grain, the goat's food, mouse's food, and weeds. Then BooBoo ate a soap bubble, and burped forward, backward, under the water and in the weeds. A fish advises BooBoo to drink water. After BooBoo does she says "Good food."

Many animals are encountered including hummingbirds, snail, bird, mouse, hens, grasshopper, goat, spider, dragonfly, fish, turtle, ladybugs, bees and other insects. There is lots of repetition.

The illustrations in this small book are detailed and very cute, with BooBoo the focus. Most animals are drawn realisticaly, except for BooBoo. A number of objects are pictured but not named, including daisies, a thistle, straw, and some of the animals.

This should be a hit with babies, toddlers and young preschoolers. Due to its small format, this is best shared as a one on one read-aloud.

For ages 1 to 5, geese, animals, eating, food, nature, farm themes, fans of the Goosie and Friends series, and fans of Olivier Dunrea.

[Willie Butts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picture Book
Dunrea, Olivier. BOOBOO. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2004
Genre: Children’s Books
This book is written about a female gosling named Boo-Boo who loves to eat. She goes around eating everything insight from grain to weeds in the pond everything she ate she declared was good. One day while she was out on the pond she noticed some bubbles in the air and ate one. The bubble caused her to release bubbles out of her mouth every time she burped. Finally a fish instructed her to drink some water she did, the bubbles stopped and she declared the bubble she ate earlier good.
This is a very small and easy to read book. I believe that young children would enjoy it because the language is very easy to understand. The pages are not cluttered with a lot of images so it is very easy for children to follow and focus on the actions of Boo-Boo. The setting for the story is simple, every thing happens on a farm and the pond on the farm.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series begins with Gossie & Gertie although they do not have to be read in any particular order. They are short, cute and fun books. They do not teach any higher values and morals; they are purely for entertainment. The reason I give them all four stars is because my son loves them so much, he carries them around with him everywhere and I like the art. Anything that encourages my semi-reluctant reader that well deserves a decent rating.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and simple. Charming would have to be the word I'd use. Just the thing to attract the attention of a baby or toddler.

Can't recommend them enough :)

This one is funnier than most, though I can't say why.

I will say that after several books (and several readings of each book), one starts to notice how formulaic they are. But that's all right. Children like predictable things.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boo Boo is my favourite book in this series. I've read it to my baby many, many times and am still not tired of the sweet story and lovely illustrations. I found this book was actually perfect for a very young child due to the repetitive nature of the text. Every time I said "Good food" my 3 month old would try to mimic the "o" sound. Very sweet.

[Dewey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I didn't already love these books, they would have had me with the tiny gosling who likes to eat. Eating is the best. This book is super cute, short enough for any age, and perfect for a storytime with bubbles! Adorable.

[Megababy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book. We have read about BooBoo before in some other books, but this one is all about BooBoo and not about her other friends. BooBoo likes to eat things, and I like to eat things too! But I never ate a bubble and burped a bubble. Good Food!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love Boo Boo! We read this book very regularly! All of the books in this series are fantastic!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another cute story by Dunrea. Love this series!

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are really cute and the story is fun and cute as well.

[Amberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything about this book is very sweet. I especially loved the illustrations with the bubbles.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was simple and enjoyable, but I enjoyed the illustrations much more than the story itself.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tis kid eats a lot. Like a garbage responsible. A lot of fun though as y daughter likes her bubbles!

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really do love Dunrea's illustrations. I realize it more with each one I read! They're just so simple and sweet and cute. I love the water color effects in the bubbles in this one. And a great lesson too - be careful what you eat!

For a storytime, it's a simple story like all the Gossie books, so probably a little young for my older preschoolers and almost-kindergarteners, but the younger ones would enjoys this (and the whole Gossie series, really!). Still, the older ones might get a kick out of BooBoo's bubbles. I'd use BooBoo's story for a theme on food and eating, though the small size of the books always makes it a little more challenging to read with a group. As a one-on-one read, though, this is perfect.

[Dallaire Family · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love the Gossie and Friends series, but BooBoo is our toddler's nickname, so it's our favorite.

Simple words and a simple story about a gosling that loves to eat. Our toddler will say "good food" along with BooBoo, and I can hardly wait until she is able to read this simple book on her own.

Great for toddlers, preschoolers, and early readers. The illustrations are darling. This is a great series to check out from the library.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boo Boo I love this book. I used to read it with my second niece. She reminded me so much of Boo Boo as a kid that Boo Boo became her nickname. She'd eat anything and everything. She still has a huge appetite, but has become much pickier in her old age.
 
We haven't read this book in awhile (Don't Push the Button! is our current go-to read), but it still makes me really happy to read.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

First grade boy liked this one. Plenty to predict and talk about (We're working on comprehension.), but nothing to tough to read. Except for "trough." We haven't learned the "ough" sound by first grade. Kiddo laughed, and I liked it, too. Didn't get picked as his story for the day, but it was a close second.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

BooBoo is a small blue gosling who likes to eat.

BooBoo not only eats all her food, but she also helps herself to the bowls of the other barnyard animals. One day she swallows a soap bubble, thinking that it must be food, and burps bubbles. The moral is that even the most adventurous eaters need to excise some caution.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a cute story about a little blue gosling who loves to eat. My son wanted to read it because our cats name is Boo and we sometimes call him BooBoo. It was easy for him to read and he enjoyed reading about the little gosling in the story.

[Pi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heh zabawna historia o pisklaku, co jadł wszystko i wszystko mu smakowało. Mamy tu nieposkromiony apetyt i uroczego bohatera, idealnego dla malutkiego czytelnika. Nie powaliła mnie, ale uważam, że jest miła - taka OKej :)

[tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in less than 2 minutes, learnt a very valuable lesson. Finished on a cliffhanger although I think I would rather not know what happened to booboo, as I have grown very fond of her and would not like to witness such tragedy.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

BooBoo is a little blue gosling who loves to eat! She is a gosling after my own heart... or stomach. She eats her own food, and she tries the other animals' food as well! But when she eats a bubble, there are unexpected results.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book with great illustrations, but it seemed a little random, and BooBoo seemed kind of rude and never had to apologize for her behavior. I don't get why it was normalized that she was eating everyone else's food...

[Hannah Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about a gosling who likes to eat almost everything she comes by. She eats grass, other animals' food, her own food, etc.
- I am not sure the use this text could have in class, maybe the importance of not taking others things?

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a sweet little character. BooBoo is a little blue gosling who is curious and loves to eat, or taste, everything she finds. She likes everything, even when she saw something interesting floating over the pond. The last page is an oh-oh to make imagination soar. Great illustrations.