The Geese March in Step

by Jean-Francois Dumont

Paperback, 2014

Genres

Description

"Zita just can't seem to march to the same beat as the rest of the geese, but before long, she realizes, as do the other barnyard animals, that her own special rhythm is just right"--

Publication

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (2014), 33 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member simchaboston

Sounded promising, but the execution doesn't live up to the concept. I do like the idea of encouraging people (or geese) to march to their own drummers, but I would've preferred that the goose do it on purpose rather than accidentally (this way it could be as easily about ADHD instead), and you

can't tell from the drawings that she's actually behaving any differently from the rest. My wife and I also agreed that to read it to her class would take multiple people, to get the full effect of the different animals adding their own sounds to the mix. Might have worked better as a play where children could actually act it out and see and feel the story for themselves in a way that this can't quite manage.

Show Less

11 more

LibraryThing member emmahunt

How cute is this story! I teach 1st grade and my students will love to hear this as a read-aloud. The pages with animal sounds is perfect for a writing lesson on onomonotopia. Thanks!

LibraryThing member DeanieG

This children's book is about a little goose named Zita who can't seem to march down to the pond in step like everyone else and the head goose isn't very nice to her. In this cute little book Zita finds quite by accident it's okay not to be like everyone else and she's okay just the way she is.

I

work in Kindergarten and I am going to take this book to school with me. I'll share what the kids say.

Show Less

LibraryThing member vibrantminds

A story about a goose,Zita, that can't stay in step with the rest of the geese on their way to the pond so she is told to depart from the group as they continue on without her. She wanders off feeling sorry for herself only to discover in the end she has a following of animals that trail behind her

all the way to the pond. I found the animals chosen a bit odd for a farm and the sounds to be distracting from the story and not smooth in what was trying to be expressed. I also found that the message being conveyed was lost in the end with no clear resolution as to the meaning of being yourself is best regardless of what others around you may say. Pictures are nicely done and go with the story well.

Show Less

LibraryThing member jenbuckner

really cute book. adorable soft, rounded oil illustrations. Nice message about being yourself and could start a discussion on whether tradition is always the most important reason to follow a tradition. I think if I read it aloud I would want to incorporate all the interesting animal sounds, but it

would be hard to do that as a single reader, I think you'd need volunteers to do all the sounds at once like an orchestra of sorts.

short enough for preschoolers, well designed endpapers- like ducks learning how to do specific dance steps.

Originally published in French

Free book recieved in return for an honest review.

Show Less

LibraryThing member HardenB

I think this was a really cute story about the one goose who was a little different and could not do exactly as the others did. This book would be good to read to children to show them that it is okay to be different and that everyone has something that makes them unique. For this goose, it was her

musicality. I think this book would be good to read with multiple kids so they can help with all the onomonopoea in the story. It would be neat if each kid, or group of kids, read a different sound as if they were one of the animals.

Show Less

LibraryThing member MrsTafel

I requested this book as part of the February Early Reviews because I knew I would love to use it in my kindergarten classroom. My students and I enjoyed the story of a little goose who couldn't (or had no desire to) conform to the rest of the geese on the farm. We had fun trying to make the sounds

of all the barnyard animals, but it was difficult. My children seemed to understand the moral of the story, which is that being different is not bad.

Show Less

LibraryThing member mamaweb5ter

The story of a goose, Zita, who can not march the same way the other geese march is asked to leave the group. She is hurt by the other geese for not allowing her to march with them, but the other barnyard animals hear her special rhythm and begin to join in with their own unique sounds. By the end,

everyone wants to be with Zita because she makes things more interesting.The illustrations are well done and the concept that friends are those who like you for being yourself is a powerful message. The problem comes when reading the book aloud. The animal noises used to create music are only effective with a group and too complex to be done as written for most young children. The reader has to assign parts to others in order to make it work. This is very fun for the kids but create limits to a picture book. Since many picture books are read one one one this book would not be as interesting if read by a single person. The book is most appropriate for ages 5-8. When I asked my kids if they would like to read the book again - I got a 50% who loved it and the others didn't care about reading it again.

This book was given to me for free in exchange for a review.

Show Less

LibraryThing member ShawnMarie

I received a pre-release copy of this book through the Early Reviewer program. I read it to my children who are four and five and they loved the artwork in the book but the story didn't quite hit home with them.

We read it a second time but there just seemed to be something missing, the kids

couldn't grasp how the new little duck went from being an outcast to being the leader of the parade.

Perhaps if my kids were a little older they might have gotten the premise of the book a little easier... but the artwork is definitely a winner.

Show Less

LibraryThing member mazlynn

This was a cute book with adorable illustrations. However, the story seemed a bit lacking - it started out with some interesting ideas of how a misfit goose could make her own rythym, but seems to wander into the ending rather than purposefully finding a way to include everyone - one group gets

included because another group gets abandoned. The sound effects of the other animals adding in to the goose's songs make a nice little chant to read, up until about half way through the book where the sound effects get too complicated to manage as a read aloud story to a few kids. All in all ok, but not likely to become a bedtime favorite.

Show Less

LibraryThing member aganske

Jean-Francois Dumont is a French author and illustrator who has written many children’s books. The Geese March in Step tells the story of a farm yard of animals particularly a young goose named Ziti. On the farm there is a certain way of doing things and it’s always been that way. Igor the

leader of the pack is proud of the tradition of walking to the pond in a one; two; one; two rhythm. He is quickly disappointed by Ziti who has her own way of walking and tells Ziti to walk on her own. Ziti finds that it can be both lonely and exciting to do things your own way. As she makes her way to the pond on her own without all her fellow geese she finds that other farm animals enjoy her creative step. Soon she has her own followers and the walk to the pond is an “unbelievable parade.”
Young readers will enjoy the rhythm and repletion created as the animals make their daily walk to the pond. The moral of being an individual and making your own new traditions is also sure to be a big hit!

Show Less

LibraryThing member Sullywriter

The goose-stepping reference will likely go over the heads of the intended audience but children will appreciate this light, appealing tale of non-conformity and individuality.

Fewer