GOOSE ON THE FARM

The latest book about Sophie and Goose describes an ordinary field trip to a farm.

Sophie and Goose go on a school trip to a farm where they play with the bunnies, feed the lambs, and meet fluffy chicks. Goose, however, feels left out, and then sulking, he gets into trouble: sitting on the hen’s eggs by mistake, plopping into a pig’s muddy puddle, and bumping into a cow. He’s not sure he likes the farm after all, until a friendly goat becomes his sidekick. The farm activities depicted are routine, and so are the animals, except for a peacock. Animal vocalizations punctuate the terse storyline. The charcoal-drawn and digitally colored illustrations are minimalistic, with dots for eyes and short lines for mouths; all humans depicted appear to be white. The spread of the tractor has a dog sitting in the driver’s seat instead of a farmer, (just a boot at page edge), which seems out of step with the other, less-fanciful scenes. It’s the brightly colored illustrations set against vivid backgrounds and the simple shapes outlined in heavy black lines that give the story some zest.

Fans of the other titles in the series will enjoy this run-of-the-farm story, though it lacks the charm of Tad Hill’s Duck and Goose books.