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Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Picture Book Monday with a review of The Geese March in Step

When I was in elementary school on the island of Cyprus, we kids had to line up in the playground when break (recess) was over and then we had to quietly walk to our classrooms. The teachers walked at the head of the lines, and I remember thinking many times over that I felt as if I was a baby duck following its mother, or a soldier in formation. How I longed to just run or skip or hop instead of having to walk "quietly."

In today's picture book you will meet a goose who cannot seem to walk in step. She, unlike me, wants to be like everyone else, but for some reason she has a hard time fitting in.


The Geese March in StepThe Geese March in Step
Jean-Francois Dumont
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Eerdmans, 2014, 978-0-8028-5443-8
Igor is a goose who leads his flock to the pond every morning. He insists that all the geese should march in step so that their webbed feet hit the ground “perfectly in synch,” and their rumps waddle “together in time.” No one can remember why the geese do this. All Igor cares about is that their orderly march is “tradition” and tradition matters.
   Then one day, during the march to the pond, Igor notices that something is amiss. One of the geese is not properly in synch. It turns out that Zita, who recently joined the flock, is having trouble marching in step. Igor tells her that she cannot go to the pond with the flock. She will have to join them later.
   Sadly Zita goes back to the farm, and then after waiting for a while, she sets off down the road to the pond once more. She cannot understand why she can’t march in step. It isn’t hard to do, and yet Zita cannot seem to manage it. As she walks, crying and sniffing, Zita starts to create a rhythmic pattern tune with her feet, tears, and sniffs, a “Splash, sniff splash and splash again sniff splash” sound. The tune is so catchy that a woodpecker joins in without even realizing it, adding a knocking noise to her song.
   Raymond the rooster is similarly attracted to Zita’s tune, which he thinks “makes you want to shake your tail feathers!” He too, without making a conscious effort to do so, joins the little goose’s tune with pecks.
   All too often the world expects us to toe the line and march to a certain drumbeat. Some people are able to do this, but others do not find it easy to do what everyone else is doing. They have their own style and have to go their own way.
   This wonderful picture book celebrates those who have an independent spirit and who dare to embrace their individuality.  

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