Goose the artist

Goose, the artist, has to produce a piece of art for the upcoming art awards. There is much mayhem as he struggles to find the inspiration and the style he wishes to use. We can catch glimpses of famous art and reference to artists sprinkled throughout the illustrations. Will Goose’s chaotic struggle end with a masterpiece? Will he meet the deadline?

This book is loaded with print and language features that make it an ideal class sharing book. The author has used a rich vocabulary and written in a subtle rhyme. I like the font chosen in the main text as it uses the single story ‘a’ which we seldom see in text but teach students to write. The verbs used to describe the different paint techniques are highlighted in upper case text and italics are used for thoughts. Speech bubbles are included in the illustrations to support the text and they add to the movement and pandemonium in Gooses studio.

The end pages describe the different art styles, their features and examples that are included in the text and acknowledge the art and artists showcased in the illustrations.

This book has so much to offer and while remaining fun to read.

Title: Goose the artist

Author/Illustrator: Kimberly Andrews

Publisher: Penguin Random House

ISBN: 978 0143775454

RRP: $19.99

Format: Paperback

Publication: May 2022

Ages: 6+

Would this book work as a read aloud? Yes

Reviewer: Elaine Wills, Library manager, Enner Glynn School, Nelson

How are you recommending this book? Highly recommend

Opening sentence: I’m Goose and I descend from famous painter geese.

You can buy this book here and find resources on the publishers’ site here