The Goose Egg

by Liz Wong

From the author of Jumpstart's Read for the Record pick Quackers comes the story of Henrietta the Elephant, whose life goes from calm to chaotic when a baby goose comes to stay.

Henrietta likes her quiet life. A morning swim, a cup of tea--all is serene.

But everything changes when she bumps her head and winds up with a goose egg--a REAL goose egg. Henrietta tries to return the baby goose to the nest, but her flock has flown. It's up to Henrietta to raise her.

Goose isn't anything like Henrietta. She's flappy, and noisy, and exhausting. But Henrietta raises that goose right. She teaches her to swim, and to honk, and to fly. When Goose flies off with the other geese, Henrietta is so proud!

And then . . . lonely. How quiet her life feels now.

But the love you give has a way of coming back to you. And Henrietta has a wonderful surprise in store. . . .

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Family, Adoption, Birds

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Cynnamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein entzückendes Bilderbuch über eine Elefantin, die aus Versehen ein Gänseei ausbrütet. Konrad Lorenz lässt grüßen.

[Leslie M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An elephant who loves being alone finds a goose egg on his head that develops into a goose. Will he miss his alone time or like the new life filled with noise? Toddler and up

[IvyInThePages · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5 leaves out of 5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Children
Type: Book
Worth?: Yeah

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Henrietta bumps her head she realizes she gets a real goose egg. Delightful and sweet.

[Connie T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henrietta enjoys her peaceful quiet days - until something happens that disrupts everything. But Henrietta is a caring soul and she does her best to remedy the situation. Eventually tranquility is restored but Henrietta discovers it's not as perfect as she originally thought. When spring (and Goose) return Henrietta's heart and family have grown.

While the illustrations are simple, with a limited color palette, they do convey emotion, sound, and movement. When Henrietta paints her head to look like a goose, the transformation is remarkable.

I think once you explain to children that a lump on the head is sometimes referred to as a goose egg, they will enjoy this sweet story. Use this as an opportunity to discuss imprinting. It can also be a jumping off point to watch Fly Away Home with older children.

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet book & a good reminder that someday my house will be quiet again but only after I’m used to the noise & not wanting the quiet anymore 😉💝 It’s a picture book but I’m not sure that my kids got as much out of it as I did 🙃🤷‍♀️

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henrietta nurtures her goose egg lump head. Sweet, gentle story of found family and how change isn't so bad.

[Michele Knott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet story about a an elephant who accidentally takes a gosling egg home... and the gosling imprints on the elephant. It's a perfect Mother Bruce story for the younger crowd.

[Amanda Zirn Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story that will warm your heart. Absolutely beautiful illustrations! When Henrietta the Elephant "adopts" baby Goose, she does her best to raise her as a proper goose despite how noisy baby Goose makes Henrietta's once quiet home. Henrietta misses the quietness and is anxious for Goose to head off on her own but when the time comes and Goose is gone, Henrietta misses Goose terribly. Her quiet home is too quiet and she feels so lonely. One day Henrietta thinks she hears a goose honk but thinks it's her imagination until she looks outside to find baby Goose is now a Mother Goose and has brought all her goslings! Once again, Henrietta's home is full of noise, happiness, and love.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henrietta is an elephant who loved quiet. Most of all, she loved the lake and sinking below its surface into silence. She would get lost in her thoughts and just swim. But one day, she got too lost in her head and she banged it on a pole! She went home and discovered that she had a big lump, a goose egg, on her head. She bandaged the bump and stayed quiet until something on her head hatched open! She reached up and found a gosling. She tried taking the baby goose back to her nest, but the mother goose never returned. So now quiet Henrietta had a very noisy gosling to take care of. Goose got louder as she grew bigger. By then, Henrietta realized that she needed to teach Goose to be a goose. So she taught her how to look for food, how to swim behind, how to flap her wings and more. Eventually, it was time for Goose to fly south. Henrietta was able to return to her quiet life again, but it wasn’t the same. Henrietta dreamed of Goose’s honking and longed to hear it again, until one day she did!

Wong takes a one-liner joke about a goose egg on the head being a real goose’s egg and turns it into a completely charming picture book. Readers who enjoy a bit of quiet will find a kindred spirit in Henrietta while those who enjoy a more raucous life will relate to Goose. The pair of them are opposites and manage to teach one another things along the way. The book has a gentle tone, allowing the story to unwind before the reader at its own pace.

Wong’s illustrations are done on a white background that nicely frames the drama of the bumped head, the goose egg and then the hatching. The images have subtle coloring until Goose appears in his bright yellow feathers, showing visually how he change Henrietta’s life. The illustrations take on a vaudeville humor as Goose and Henrietta interact. Then Henrietta’s solution for teaching Goose is a lovely visual as well.

A sweet and gentle tale of adoption, letting go and returning home. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the author/illustrator of the equally pleasing Quackers, this picture book tells the story of an unexpected love and life-changing event. Henrietta is an elephant that enjoys her solitude. She has her daily routines in which she quietly savors life pleasures. When she goes for a swim in the lake one day, she is distracted and bumps her head. She thinks she has a goose egg on her noggin as the result of this mishap, but it turns out to be an actual goose egg. The egg hatches, and the gosling imprints on her. Since there's no one else around, Henrietta must teach the goose how to fly and how to navigate nature. Once her goose flies away, the quietness is not as appealing as it once was, and she misses the goose's noisiness. But Henrietta need not despair for long since that goose comes back home with three babies of her own. Created in watercolor, colored pencil, gouache and with Adobe Photoshop, the illustrations do an excellent job of showing the bond that develops between these two unlikely friends and how love transcends all boundaries. While some youngsters may not understand the two different meanings of goose egg, the book offers an opportunity to discuss them while also teaching an important lesson. This one charmed the pants off me. While being alone has its merits, so does allowing someone or something to creep into your heart. I love how this picture book helps readers expand their conception of what a family is.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henrietta, the elephant, likes her peace and quiet. One day, while lost in her own thoughts, she runs headfirst into a post with a nest on top. She thinks she has a figurative goose egg on her noggin, so she wraps it up with a bandage and waits for it to heal. It turns out it is a literal goose egg, and when the egg hatches the little gosling becomes attached to Henrietta. So, Henrietta takes the gosling home to raise, but it isn’t easy for an elephant to raise a goose ... especially for an elephant who prefers peace and quiet.

Clever illustrations show how Henrietta teaches the gosling everything it needs to know, including how to look for good, flap her wings and fly. When the gosling is ready to be on its own, Henrietta realizes that she’s not such a big fan of the quiet anymore.

[Read Ribbet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story of an elephant named Henrietta that enjoys her quiet life until unexpected change happens. In this case, it is the accidental mothering of a baby goose. The elephant learns to cope and problem solve. When change happens again, the reader can see how it impacted Henrietta. Wong has wonderful word choices in describing the initial quiet life and how the word choices contrast later when the noise level ramps up. A great mentor texts for young writers. It's universal theme of the need to cope with change may another good reason for adding it to collections.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Similar to Mother Bruce, but with an elephant who is less cranky. The elephant accidentally brings home a goose egg, and when it hatches the baby goose thinks she is the mama. She does try to return the baby to the goose mother, but the goose family is gone. She tries to raise the goose and life gets a bit chaotic. Then in a darling twist, she paints her head and trunk to resemble a white goose and teaches the goose how to be a goose. Super sweet and cute story about families, adoptions, elephants, and goose.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elephant loves her quiet life but becomes the parental figure and care taker for a goose egg that hatches. Needless to say their is a great disparity between the life of a goose and an elephant. In playful joyful scenes the illustrations depict the caring loving relationship between the two. Love, how Wong illustrates the end papers with the peaceful life of elephant in the front of the title and with scenes of elephant and goose having joyful interaction.
While Wong’s title Quakers was a good debut, her illustration abilities are maturing in this second title.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable story of mistaking identity and finding a new family. Henrietta is an elephant who loves quiet and solitude. One day, while swimming in the lake, she bonks her head on the dock and gets a literal and metaphorical goose egg on her head. The goose thinks Henrietta is her mother, and she has to figure out how to handle this new situation. The illustrations are absolutely adorable, and this sweet story will warm your heart. I loved it!

[Michelle]

This starts out like Ryan Higgin's "Mother Bruce," but takes a contemplative spin mid-story. The "Goose Egg" turns out to be an actual egg (takes some explaining of the idiom when you read to kids: goose-egg isn't a term used much any more) and the Elephant sweetly nurtures her ward to adulthood.

It was well-received by the kids I read it to, but the adults I shared it with were more taken by it. I'd get it as a gift for a baby shower so mom and baby can both enjoy it as they grow.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart-warming story of a an elephant, Henrietta, who accidentally hatches a goose egg on her head. She tries to return the goose to a nest but no one ever comes back to that nest. Henrietta now finds herself responsible for this gosling. And it disturbs the quiet she so enjoyed. But in the end she finds herself overjoyed when Goose brings her own babies back to visit.

Soft pastel illustrations accompany this simple, sweet story. Recommended for storytime.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet story of Henrietta the elephant who loves quiet until the day she bumps her head. Thinking she’s got a heck of a lump she bandages her head and carries on with her quiet life. But then the lump cracks and a baby goose appears. And so begins her wonderful journey from quiet to an even better quiet. I loved the way Henrietta teaches the little goose how to be a goose; brilliant!

Highly recommend!

[Nanci Booher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Edelweiss for advance access to this adorable book. Henrietta the elephant loved the quiet...so much so that one day she bonks her head while swimming underwater and gets a goose egg. A real goose egg actually. Henrietta suddenly finds herself mom to a baby gosling. What happens when it is time to teach the little goose how to behave like a goose????

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of an elephant coming up from swimming with a goose egg on his head. Literally, he takes care of the egg until it hatches and shows the goose how to fly and catch food and it leaves the nest and comes back with its own goslings. A story with a lot of heart and showing animals taking care of each other.

[Ashley Adkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read picture book with a cute story for young readers. Though I feel like I have read this type of story many times I thought the illustrations were create in how they portrayed the elephant helping the goose become a goose. Additionally, the illustrations were soft and reminded me of when I was a child. I also really liked the font that was used for the words on the pages.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Childrens picture book. A familiar story of an abandoned egg hatching and the baby bird imprinting on the adoptive mother. This one focuses on Henrietta, a dignified elephant who reads the paper and drinks tea from an actual teacup. I loved the illustrations--especially when Henritta painted her front half to look like a goose in order to teach the gosling what she needed to know.

[Margaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

A softer alternative to the Mother Bruce story. Elephant thinks she's got a goose egg boo boo on her head, but really she's got a real goose egg on her head!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super adorable book. The illustrations are so cute and the story is precious and lovely.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

It broke my heart when the elephant didn't enjoy the silence anymore when the goose grew up and flew away as geese do, but then my heart leaped when there were more goose in the elephant's life again! Great and awesome book. I loved it.

[emyrose8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aww, cute! Adorable illustrations and great vocabulary. There's a hint of alliteration/assonance. The story reminds me of Mother Bruce, but less grumpy and more quiet.

[Melissa Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henrietta is charming, sweet, caring and so creative! This story is perfect for a read-a-loud for students in PreK - 2 grades. It could absolutely be used with older children, and I would love to see if students can come up with an idea as creative as Liz Wong did transforming elephant into a swan! Just a sweet picture book with beautiful illustrations.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henrietta the elephant likes her quiet, peaceful life. When she accidentally brings home a goose egg one day and it hatches, that quiet life is gone forever. This sweet story is perfect for story time with bright, colorful illustrations and a story that's easy to follow and entertaining. This will make the kids laugh and the caregivers smile.

[Triston Dutschke · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Goose Egg is a great read. The story tells of an elephant who becomes an unexpected parent. Not only that, their child is a goose! It shows the paternal love that people have. Even though they are different, elephant raises the goose as their own. Showing them how to survive and even fly. Even though elephant's can't fly.