Blue Goose

Starred review from December 10, 2007
Farmer Gray’s homestead is as colorless as his name—even the sky and grass are gray. So, while he’s away for the day, Blue Goose, Red Hen, Yellow Chick and White Duck get some paint and undertake a barnyard makeover. First they cover a few things in their signature colors—and what they redecorate can be surprising: “White Duck painted the fence white. And Yellow Chick painted all the flowers yellow.” Next the animals mix the different colors (e.g., yellow and blue make green for the grass.) With a little teamwork, they’re even able to paint the sun yellow (this image requires a vertical format so readers can fully savor the effort involved). Tafuri’s (The Busy Little Squirrel
) animal cast is creative, confident and diligent—there are no pratfalls into paint cans, no falling off of ladders. But the veteran author is more visually playful here than usual: the scenes have the bold, graphic punch of murals. As always, her generously sized animals and pithy text extend a warm welcome to readers, and make this celebration of color ideal for sharing either one-on-one or with a group. Ages 1-4.

January 1, 2008
PreS-Gr 1-While Farmer Gray is away, Blue Goose, Red Hen, Yellow Chick, and White Duck set out to paint their colorless barnyard. Reminiscent of Ellen Stoll Walsh's "Mouse Paint" (Harcourt, 1989), the animals begin by working alone, then pair up to fill in the white spaces for purple doors, orange shutters, and green grass. That evening, when the grinning farmer returns, all that's left to do is for Blue Goose to paint everything a dreamy nighttime blueexcept the moon, of course. Done in brush pen, watercolor pencils, gouache, and ink, Tafuri's realistic illustrations evoke a calming pastoral setting. The critters are depicted in textured hues, making them stand out among the newly painted backdrops. This quiet celebration of team spirit and color concepts is no pioneer, but its oversize scenes, straightforward narrative, and endearing characters are ideal for storytime sharing."Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2007
In a low-key story exploring colors, Blue Goose, Red Hen, Yellow Chick, and White Duck all pitch in to paint the barnyard, which first appears in black, white, and gray. Each bird has a brush and a can of paint. After making the fence white, the flowers yellow, the barn red, and the roof blue, they mix their hues to create purple for the doors, orange for the shutters, and, in a leap of the imagination, light blue for the sky and green for the grass and trees. After a few more strokes of cooperative genius, the job is done. The simple, clearly written story leaves room for discussion when reading the book aloud, while the clean lines of the drawings as well as the large scale and varied composition of the ink, gouache, and pencil illustrations make them very effective to share with groups of children. An appealing introduction to primary and secondary colors.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)