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Boo to a Goose
A boisterous baker's dozen of silly rhymes present rollicking and whimsical scenarios about what a young person would do rather than frighten a goose, including feeding pajamas to piranhas and walking on knees past a hive full of bees. Reprint.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
65 people want to read
About the author
Mem Fox
126 books426 followersMerrion Frances Fox is an Australian writer of children's books and an educationalist specialising in literacy. Fox has been semi-retired since 1996, but she still gives seminars and lives in Adelaide, South Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
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April 14, 2025It took a popular format, like from Green eggs and ham, and forgot how there’s a conclusion and message behind it. There has to be at least something built up from it.
I know people will say if something is for kids it’s not that deep, but I think authors can take it as an opportunity to be lazy.
I’m not rating this because it doesn’t match up with my normal style of rating
I know people will say if something is for kids it’s not that deep, but I think authors can take it as an opportunity to be lazy.
I’m not rating this because it doesn’t match up with my normal style of rating
June 4, 2021
A playful, funny, rhyming book that is a real pleasure to read. The illustrations are all made out of 3D paper crafts and are quite extraordinary.
May 8, 2009
Mem Fox has produced an amusing read (or shout) aloud book.
This was David Miller's first children's picture book. The paper sculpture is pretty fantastic - but his newer works (e.g. Refugees) show that he is improving all the time.
A Warning: A number of the rhymes require an Australian accent to work correctly (e.g. walk and York need to rhyme). One might say a bit of retribution for Sesame Street's ABC...Zee (rather than Zed) and all those Dr. Seuss rhymes that only work with an American accent!
This was David Miller's first children's picture book. The paper sculpture is pretty fantastic - but his newer works (e.g. Refugees) show that he is improving all the time.
A Warning: A number of the rhymes require an Australian accent to work correctly (e.g. walk and York need to rhyme). One might say a bit of retribution for Sesame Street's ABC...Zee (rather than Zed) and all those Dr. Seuss rhymes that only work with an American accent!
January 20, 2012
Perhaps three stars for the clever art within the book, but the forced and at times really nonsensical rhymes didn't really capture me, and went on much too long. The punch line didn't really interest my reading audience either.
February 11, 2018
The rhymes in this are a bit of a stretch...or maybe just make you read in a fun accent, that's a better way to think of it ("I'd take a long walk from here to New York" or "I'd eat all the butter from here to Calcutta.") But the collage illustrations are great an imaginative and when kids get to shout along to the refrain, that's always fun. Well worth the share.
April 21, 2022
This story is not amazing. I would give this book 2 stars if not for the pictures.
They are or seem to be photos of paper cutouts in the shapes of things- think claymation with paper. Very impressive.
They are or seem to be photos of paper cutouts in the shapes of things- think claymation with paper. Very impressive.
October 3, 2017
Wonderful paper sculpture artwork.
April 6, 2018
My Favourite Childhood Book :)
July 31, 2018
A boy relates a long list of things he would do before he’d say boo to a goose.
Repetition would make this a good read aloud.
Repetition would make this a good read aloud.
March 4, 2019
Imaginative rhymes and lovely illustrations.
March 27, 2019
not my favorite Mem Fox book. I was pretty disappointed. It's a tad strange. Weird ending. It's sort of a let down feeling. The animals in it were fine. Thought it would be more engaging?
February 7, 2022
This book is a great rhyming book. The story goes through different silly scenarios for little ones to follow along with he reader. Pictures in this book are nice, big, and colorful!
June 9, 2025
My dad doesn’t get why he’s scared of a goose
December 4, 2016
Leading confession: Boo to a Goose book is out of print. But that doesn't mean you can't get your hands on it. My mom borrowed a copy from her school library (she's a teacher) so for when came to visit last summer. It was a instant hit with my son Harry. He asked for it every night we were in town. When we got back home, I found a used library discard copy on Amazon.
The art in this book is so unusual and striking. The jacket copy describes it as "three-dimensional cut paper assemblages," and they really do appear textured. I find myself staring at the art whenever I read the book, and I know that Harry finds it intriguing too since he's always trying to touch it.
This is a silly rhyming nonsense book, and by that I mean that the content is actual nonsense and the humor relies on the reader understanding that it doesn't make sense. How the rhyming sounds to the ear is also critical in the funny mood the book sets.
Boo to a Goose is frequently described as having a "baker's dozen" of rhymes, and what they mean by that is that there is a couplet formula that repeats. This is ideal for kids like mine. Nonsense books are particularly challenging because it's hard to find an anchor if you don't know that something is nonsense as opposed to just one more thing you don't understand receptively.
The combination of the art clearly illustrating each couplet's scene, along with the structured, repeating rhymes that make the text feel predictable, goes a long way in achieving the goal of understanding the idea (and fun) of nonsense.
A word of caution: this book takes some forethought to read. Take for example, "I'd take a long walk / from here to New York / But I wouldn't say / "BOO!" to a goose." This is an example of a spread in which what's funny is in how the text is read--the act of making the word "walk" rhyme with "York." You have to put on an exaggerated New York accent when you read this page.
But most of the pages don't rely on nuances of delivery; they are largely funny in terms of a combination of unexpected elements. For example, "I'd gobble up snails / from smelly old pails / But I wouldn't say "BOO!" / to a goose." This spread is accompanied by art showing snails crawling all over and inside of dirty pails, and doesn't rely on trickier language processing skills.
In terms of language development, we have had great success with Harry using this book for intraverbals. He loves filling in the end of each rhyme ("Snails!" "Pails!") And then saying the line: "I wouldn't say 'BOO!' to a goose!"
But for my son Luke, who struggles with abstract ideas (and nonsense is as abstract as it gets), this book is just too complicated right now. So you have to know if your kid is ready for it or not (and hey, you can always give it a try).
****
I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer blog post, "7 seriously funny picture books": http://www.lineupthebooks.com/two-sil...
The art in this book is so unusual and striking. The jacket copy describes it as "three-dimensional cut paper assemblages," and they really do appear textured. I find myself staring at the art whenever I read the book, and I know that Harry finds it intriguing too since he's always trying to touch it.
This is a silly rhyming nonsense book, and by that I mean that the content is actual nonsense and the humor relies on the reader understanding that it doesn't make sense. How the rhyming sounds to the ear is also critical in the funny mood the book sets.
Boo to a Goose is frequently described as having a "baker's dozen" of rhymes, and what they mean by that is that there is a couplet formula that repeats. This is ideal for kids like mine. Nonsense books are particularly challenging because it's hard to find an anchor if you don't know that something is nonsense as opposed to just one more thing you don't understand receptively.
The combination of the art clearly illustrating each couplet's scene, along with the structured, repeating rhymes that make the text feel predictable, goes a long way in achieving the goal of understanding the idea (and fun) of nonsense.
A word of caution: this book takes some forethought to read. Take for example, "I'd take a long walk / from here to New York / But I wouldn't say / "BOO!" to a goose." This is an example of a spread in which what's funny is in how the text is read--the act of making the word "walk" rhyme with "York." You have to put on an exaggerated New York accent when you read this page.
But most of the pages don't rely on nuances of delivery; they are largely funny in terms of a combination of unexpected elements. For example, "I'd gobble up snails / from smelly old pails / But I wouldn't say "BOO!" / to a goose." This spread is accompanied by art showing snails crawling all over and inside of dirty pails, and doesn't rely on trickier language processing skills.
In terms of language development, we have had great success with Harry using this book for intraverbals. He loves filling in the end of each rhyme ("Snails!" "Pails!") And then saying the line: "I wouldn't say 'BOO!' to a goose!"
But for my son Luke, who struggles with abstract ideas (and nonsense is as abstract as it gets), this book is just too complicated right now. So you have to know if your kid is ready for it or not (and hey, you can always give it a try).
****
I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer blog post, "7 seriously funny picture books": http://www.lineupthebooks.com/two-sil...
April 30, 2013
Author: Mem Fox
Illustrator: David Miller
First Published: 1996
Okay, it's Mem Fox - repetition, rhyme, clever use of language with some challenging but memorable vocabulary, excellent to read aloud. It's how she's made her name as a strong proponent of childhood literacy and advocate for reading aloud.
Fox (on her website) states she wrote the book specifically for a younger child - it is engaging and simplistic. But a lot of the magic of the book comes from the 3D paper illustrations by David Miller.
Check out this video from the State Library of Victoria (about 3 minutes). Miller discusses and demonstrates the techniques and process of sculpture creation.
Age:
Read aloud: 2+
Read yourself: 6+
(ISBN 0733604595)
Illustrator: David Miller
First Published: 1996
Okay, it's Mem Fox - repetition, rhyme, clever use of language with some challenging but memorable vocabulary, excellent to read aloud. It's how she's made her name as a strong proponent of childhood literacy and advocate for reading aloud.
Fox (on her website) states she wrote the book specifically for a younger child - it is engaging and simplistic. But a lot of the magic of the book comes from the 3D paper illustrations by David Miller.
Check out this video from the State Library of Victoria (about 3 minutes). Miller discusses and demonstrates the techniques and process of sculpture creation.
Age:
Read aloud: 2+
Read yourself: 6+
(ISBN 0733604595)
June 21, 2017
Never read this book before but surmised from the title what this would be about—and this fits my required Predictable Children’s book requirement so wanted to get this out of the way. In a way, it reminds you of Green Eggs and Ham and other children’s book where the character adamantly refuses to do something and names ALL the other things in the history of things they would rather do. Much like Sam refused to eat green eggs and ham this little boy will not ever never say to boo to a goose and would rather do all kinds of rhyming things like dive from a mountain into a fountain and dance with a pig in a shiny green wig and even non rhyming things like feed his pajamas to giant piranhas or take a long walk from here to New York (really bad rhyme LOL)…but unlike other books this book tells you WHY he would never say boo to a goose (apparently its a "thing" there are like five books written on this same thing, who knew geese were so scary tee hee) and I won’t spoil it but and will say it’s kind of cute and engaging and will surprise and delight young readers..curious minds will just have to know why and read until the end..
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February 11, 2014This book says all the things a boy would rather do than say BOO TO A GOOSE. It gives different scenarios like, "I'd swim with a whale without getting pale. But I wouldn't say "Boo!" to a goose." Whale and Pale are rhyming words and throughout the whole book Fox uses different rhymes. I would use this book in Pre-K/Kindergarten for a literacy unit to introduce rhyming words. Rhyming words build phonological awareness. After I read this book, I will play a rhyming game with the students. Students will have to make rhyming words even if they are "nonsense" words. The purpose of the book and game will be for students to hear that ending sound and be able to produce a similar sound. Building this phonological awareness will prepare the students for other more complicated literacy units.
April 17, 2008
Summary (worldcat): A child relates a long list of things he would do before he'd say boo to a goose.
Review: Having been frightened as a toddler by a goose I identified with the main character. I love the rhyme and rhythm of the poetic content. I found it fun to read aloud, and that some of the rhymes bring out almost an accent in the reader, "I'd eat all the butter from here to Calcutta.."
"I'd take a long walk from here to New York...". Not to mention that the illustrations are FANTASTIC!!
School Library Journal ina postive review suggests that students would enjoy writing their own additional lines, and Booklist states that toddlers will enjoy shouting the refrain.
Review: Having been frightened as a toddler by a goose I identified with the main character. I love the rhyme and rhythm of the poetic content. I found it fun to read aloud, and that some of the rhymes bring out almost an accent in the reader, "I'd eat all the butter from here to Calcutta.."
"I'd take a long walk from here to New York...". Not to mention that the illustrations are FANTASTIC!!
School Library Journal ina postive review suggests that students would enjoy writing their own additional lines, and Booklist states that toddlers will enjoy shouting the refrain.
Read
April 8, 2014This book states many things that a boy would rather do than say "Boo! To a goose." The boy says things like, "I would take a long walk from here to New York..." This book is full of rhymes and silly phrases that keep children engaged.
After this story, children would have a chance to engage in a rhyming game. Children could partner up and they could take turns, one thinking of a word and the other saying the first rhyming word they think of. Then they could write in their notebooks about the rhymes they have created.
After this story, children would have a chance to engage in a rhyming game. Children could partner up and they could take turns, one thinking of a word and the other saying the first rhyming word they think of. Then they could write in their notebooks about the rhymes they have created.
October 3, 2016
This book contains meaningful repetition by ending every page with "But I wouldn't say boo to a goose." This kind of predictability is great for children because they can know what's going to be on every page. This makes the reading experience more enjoyable because they know they can successfully be a part of the reading. I would use this book in Pre-K or Kindergarten for a literacy unit to introduce rhyming words. This book could offer discussions about rhyming words and we could even play games like whether or not words rhyme at different stations.
January 28, 2014
This one made me laugh. All of the crazy things a child would do instead of saying boo to a goose was a great example of how real life experiences could make anyone change their mind about doing some of the simplest things. It made me think of things that I will never do, like not eating bologna ever again after it made me sick as a kid.
September 23, 2014
Boo to a Goose is a rhyming book that uses a lot of repetition. This would be a simple read for young elementary school children. After reading this book aloud, the teacher could have the students write out a one sentence rhyme about something they would rather do than "say boo to a goose!" They could then illustrate the picture as well.
March 10, 2008
While I found a couple rhymes in this book a bit of a stretch, my toddler loved it, and would walk around saying "boo" to everything for days after reading it. The cut paper illustrations in this book are quite unusual and add to the fun.
April 20, 2012
I love the paper sculpture like pictures in the book! This really drew me to this little book filled with rhymes. This book would be great for students who need help with rhyming words or to put in a literacy center for kids to use and make their own silly rhymes.
August 22, 2012
My kids thought this was too long and the depiction was getting "annoying" to them (they actually used that word). I gave it too stars because the paper artwork was very detailed and amazing. Otherwise I'd give it 1 star.
November 1, 2012
Pre-K students had a blast listening to this and saying "Boo" at the correct moments. There is a part I thought was off-base in humor regarding running around with pants down. Overall, cute simple story for a younger audience.
September 22, 2014
This book I really enjoyed. It is rhyming and repetitive so it is more suited towards primary grades. It contains a lot of different types of animals so it could be used in some sort of lesson introducing animals.
March 29, 2015
Boo! This is a book for children to use their imagination, read poetry/rhyming. The pictures are creative and very detailed. I would use this book with younger children in kindergarten an a read-aloud.
October 23, 2015
This book was very repetitive, so I think that this would be beneficial for the younger classes but not 3rd grade and older. However, it could be enjoyable for those students because the ending is quite entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews