Who’s a Goose?

Who’s a Goose? by Scott Stuart (Scholastic) ISBN 9781761122750 RRP $17.99 (HB)

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

Who’s a Goose? is a playful, brightly illustrated picture book exploring a quirk of the English language: collective nouns. Two geese, the know-it-all Bruce, and the silly Bill, discuss different words that are not particularly logical. Between these two quite contrasting characters, the reader is taken from moose to ants, to sheep, frogs, giraffes, gorillas, monkeys, and pigs. With Bill asking unanswerable questions all the way, the story comes to a worrying point when they meet a skulk of foxes. But luckily geese come in a flock.

There are some great words to describe groups of animals, and some are included in this book, such as a cauldron of bats, a tower of giraffes and a waddle of penguins. (Apparently penguins are only called a waddle on land – on water they’re called a raft.) In rhyming text, we switch from one to the other, often with humorous comments from the animals involved. The illustrations change colours on each page and there are funny expressions on the animals’ faces to make the kids laugh.  

This new book from the author and illustrator of My Shadow is Pink, is purely fun for both the kids and the adults who read it to them. Who’s a Goose? is suitable for children aged 3-8 years.