Will's Quill: or, How a Goose Saved Shakespeare

by Don Freeman

A goose named Willoughby visits London, meets a friendly actor-playwright named Shakespeare, and helps make literary history.

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Shakespeare, Fiction, Animals, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Don Freeman was a painter, printmaker, cartoonist, children's book author, and illustrator. He was born in San Diego, California, attended high school in Missouri, and later moved to New York City where he studied etching with John Sloan.
Frequent subjects included Broadway theatre, politics, and the circus. He was also a jazz musician, and the brother of circus entrepreneur Randy Freeman.

Reviews

[Cheryl]

An archived copy is also avl. to borrow from openlibrary.org.

[Louis G · Rating 5 out of 5]

my boss read this story to me

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, you know I loved this one! A goose that befriends Shakespeare and lends him her quality feathers for his writing. But the thing I loved the most is that the illustrations were true. The street where Blackfriars (the home where Shakespeare lived while in London) was portrayed look exactly as it should and that gave me warm fuzzies.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for ATY 2019 Reading Challenge Week 5: A book by Shakespeare or inspired by Shakespeare

A country goose ventures into the big city and befriends a budding poet/playwright. By repaying a kindness the goose enables the poet/playwright to begin his successful career as the greatest in the world. Charming watercolors help to tell the story in this children's' historical fiction.

[Angie Leu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A goose named Willaby who decided to head into the city in London to explore. He was so overwhelmed by all the hustle and bustle. But then he meets a young William Shakespeare who helps Will "unruffle his feathers". He follows him into a building that performed plays. He returns the favor by going after the actors who were trying to duel his friend. When William needed a quill to write with Willaby gives him a quill from his own body.

[Debby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willoughby Waddle was a country goose who went to London to make himself useful (in the 16th century). A man befriends him and Willoughby follows him to see if he can help. The man turns out to be William Shakespeare. Willoughby was able to help by giving him one of his strong feathers to use as an ink quill.

Really delightful story. Some old English is used in the dialogue to make it realistic.

Large, colorful pictures give a great deal of information themselves about the period.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun way to introduce Shakespeare to Miss 2! It's about a goose that ventures into London, is helped by Will, visits The Globe, and donates his feather as a quill so that Will can finish penning Midsummer Nights Dream. It's less about introducing Shakespearian text and more about introducing the historical elements, play acting etc.

[Jake Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is lighthearted and fun to read. It involves a goose who is scared in a city called Londontown, until William Shakespeare comes by and feeds him some berries. Later, the goose helps William by lending him a feather to use as a quill. The book has a nice message about good things going and coming around, and also does a good job at writing Shakespeare's lines.

[Clara Biesel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little book by the author of Corduroy, this is the story of a goose who gives Shakespeare a feather to help him write the plays.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute Don Freeman book I have had on my shelf forever, I finally pulled it out when we started learning about Elizabethan period in history. It surprised me with some lovely large vocabulary words.

[J.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginative story about the goose who might have shaped the world of English literature.

[Bella · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don’t think this really happened #louis

[Tasasha Battle]

This book is set in the times of William Shakespeare where people had to use bird feathers and liquid ink to write. The goose seeks to be useful, so he ventures from the country to the city. He finds this young man and helps him write his play because feathers from country birds are healthier and stronger then city birds. This book can be used expand student's vocabulary. There are a lot of unfamiliar or old English words and phrases in this book. Students can use these new found meanings to push their writings a little farther.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky book, this is one of a very few picture books at an appropriate level to present Shakespeare's England to 2nd graders. I wanted to use Rogers, The Boy, The Bear.. but I'm not sure how to present it to a group of over 50 kids, since it is wordless and the details are pretty small. There are many books on this period for older kids, but I want something that is actually at their level. We'll see how this goes for the presentation tomorrow!

[Kasper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cringing all the way through. Bad use of Elizabethan language (learn the difference between thee/thy and you/your before writing, folks!) and the illustrations were not that inspiring. The story was cute enough, I guess, but the spoken language was executed so poorly that I just could not get into it.