Simont, Marc. The Goose That Almost Got Cooked. Illustrated by Marc Simont. Scholastic, 1997. ISBN 0-590-69075-2. $15.95. 40 pp.” K+ PB Reviewed by Gabi Kupitz Emily always likes to do things her way. As a gosling, she swam in circles rather than in a straight line. As a grown-up Canadian goose she likes to break formation. One day as the flock is undertaking a long flight and Emily tires because she has been doing acrobatics, she decides to break with the flying group and sleep. Emily wakes up to a seven-goose reception, which she follows to a farmer-supplied breakfast of grains and other goodies. The farmer welcomes Emily to his flock and leads his geese to a cozy and secure shed for the night. Emily loves this new lifestyle! That is, until she wakes up one morning and counts only six companions. Determined to find the missing goose, she searches the barnyard and is aghast to find goose feathers in a bucket and the farmer and his wife enjoying a roast meal! Desperate to escape, Emily realizes that she can't fly because she's molting! For days, Emily keeps a low profile until she is cornered by the farmer's wife who is looking for a main course. Emily runs and then finds she can fly--her feathers have grown back. After a long and grueling solo flight, Emily rejoins her friends. They fly together, but before settling down for the night, free-spirited Emily loops and flips in the evening sky. Watercolor paintings illuminate the sparse text that offers a hopeful resolution to the problem of conformity and the desire to be an individual with adherent consequences--at least for this goose.
