Mindi has a big goose in her bedroom, the simple, direct, much needed illustrations show that it’s the shadow of different things in different pictures. The big goose is keeping Mindi awake at night. Her parents can’t see it or figure out how to deal with this imaginary fear. So her father walks a distance to a wise old man named Austen for advice. Upon Austen’s advice Mindi’s father takes Mindi along the long walk to Austen’s farm to meet the animals, including the two geese and a goat. Mindi befriends the goat and the old man has a very creative solution to the big goose dilemma. Trade the goat for the goose no one else can see. It works wonderfully and the farmer ends up with three geese in the last picture, leaving the children reading the book wondering where that third goose came from. I love the creative solution and the theories my kids came up with about the third goose at the end.

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A very sweet story about a common fear in children. Little Mindi is afraid of a goose which haunts her room at night. Dad takes her to a wise farmer who trades the goose for a goat. The illustrations were done in mixed media and lend another level of sweetness to the book.

I read this regularly with my three year old daughter - she loves the characters and the artwork. She especially loves the goat and the idea of giving a goat apricots, which she acts out during play time. Clearly the book has made an impression. I do feel like a lot of the story is more aimed at the parents and their dilemma of solving the little girl's problem with an imaginary (scary) goose, rather than keeping the child at the center of the story. The book has wonderful elements which would work just a little bit better in a more kid-centered narrative. ( )