This is high melodrama about the first two years of a fine Canadian goose named Chen, and two children, an Eskimo girl and a California boy, who influence his life. The Eskimo girl banded the bird, a species that is a prime target for hunters. In California, the boy found the bird trapped and this sets off a minimal flurry of pen-pal exchanges. The writing seems affected rather than evocative of mood, and while the account is emotional, characters and animals are only shallowly developed. The gander and his defenders are treated quite coolly, the details of bird lore are glossed over, and the thread of the story very slight. Frustrating reading for fact or fiction.