If you're buying on the strength of Detective Dog, be wary. This is a very different style, almost entirely character conversation and no rhyming. Story-wise it's remarkably close to the broad brush strokes of the Wild Robot (goose imprints on alternate parent) but because of the audience and format it's way shallower and less emotional. Ok, but not likely to top our 4yo's nightly reading list often. Read more

This is longer than most Julia Donaldson stories, and it has a different vibe given that it's a story told through conversation, rather than narrative. Unlike most of Donaldson's previous work, this story does not rhyme but it doesn't need to in order to appeal to a young audience. It's a sweet story of kindness and acceptance, and is packed full of teaching points. It covers seasonal changes, hibernation, birds flying south for the winter etc. It is humorous too. Young children won't be able to resist the cute little gosling and her bear companion. Read more

You know you are in a second childhood (or not out of the first) when the highlight of the month is a new Julia Donaldson release! The current stock images above give a fair idea of the content and I simply love it, especially those facial expressions in the superbly atmospheric illustrations, by Sara Ogilvie, which generally have that 'the more you look; the more you see' (and ponder over) element! The durable hardback measures roughly 25.5 cm x 28.5 cm; the thick board cover opening to 44 good quality, matte-finish pages with the story running across double-page spreads (bar the first and last). ooOoo From the back cover (image below refers): 🐻~ ‘Meet Bear, who lives on his own and likes it that way. Enter Gozzle, a lively little gosling who is looking for a home...' ooOoo The two main characters feature on the colourful front cover that has a shiny finish in part. Inside, various onlookers are dotted around, as Bear does his best to distance himself from the persistent, somewhat repetitive little gosling that thinks he is her ‘daddy’! As we progress through the seasons, ‘Gozzle’ grows up and there is a twist in the tale, but I couldn’t possibly spoil that, or the ending (other than say that various emotions are covered). The text, sometimes capitalised, is a good size in black throughout and uses the rounded lower case ‘a’ that I much prefer to see, along with the (repetitive) use of ‘all right’ rather than the contraction. Snippets of information are nonchalantly woven into the text in that ‘learning without realising’ that I so love in a picture book. An easy 5 stars, for me and mine. (Not one for stickers on books, I can confirm that the one on the front cover removes without trace, if desired.) Read more