THE BIG GOOSE AND THE LITTLE WHITE DUCK

In a day and age when even witches have been cleaned up past recognition for children's literature, the grandpa here who wishes to eat both the big goose and the little duck is a refreshingly villainous old tyrant. Curmudgeonly Grandpa lent the dollar, that it took for the big boy to buy the goose and the companion duck for his mother who had always wanted a goose. Grandpa was under the impression that the goose was intended for his 88th birthday dinner. Nothing-- no amount of usefulness displayed by the goose, who doubled as a very efficient watch dog, could sway the old boy and his word was bitter law to the boy and his mother. Right up to the birthday date, and through many adventures, he persisted in seeing the bird as table food. It reads aloud smoothly and, if done serially, will produce more sympathetic suspense in the younger set than a Pearl White cliff- hanger.