The Day the Goose Got Loose by Reeve Lindbergh

Prompts

Ask the child questions after the second and third readings of The Day the Goose Got Loose, to start a conversation about the book. You can prompt the child on every page, using the questions below. If the child says something spontaneously about a picture, expand on it and ask the child to repeat it. There are questions for every one or two pages of the story.

1. How did the goose get loose? (She pulled the peg out of the lock on her door.)
2. What is the goose doing in these pictures? (She is eating the hens' food.)
3. What are the little chicks doing? (The little chicks are crying.)
4. Who is the goose talking to here? (The goose is talking to the sheep.)
5. What is the goose riding on? (She is riding on a big ram.)
6. Then what happened? (The ram butted the girl.)
7. Where does the horse run to? (She runs into the bathroom and scares Dad.)
8. What has happened to the fence? (The bull ran right through it and broke it.)
9. What is happening here? (The police are bringing back the cows that ran away.)
10. Where is the goose? (She is in the barn.)
11. Who does Dad talk to about the goose? (He talks to the police.)
12. What does Mom show the police? (She shows them a picture of the goose that ran away.)
13. How does Mom try to catch the goose? (She runs after it with a butterfly net.)
14. Where is the goose? (She is hiding under the leaves.)
15. What does little brother see in the sky? (He sees wild geese flying away.)
16. What's happening in this picture? (The little brother and the goose are waving to the wild geese that are flying away.)
17. What is Grandma doing? (She is sitting in a rocking chair talking to the children about the goose.)
18. What is happening in this picture? (The little girl is dreaming that she is flying away with the goose.)
19. What does the little girl hold onto during the dream? (She holds onto the goose and her teddy bear.)
20. Where do they fly to? (They fly high up in the sky and over a magical land.)
21. Does the goose come back? Where does she go? (She goes to sleep with the little girl.)

Vocabulary

The words listed below come from the story and its pictures. As you page through the book, point to the pictures and ask the child to name the object or the action shown. This will help the child learn new words. You can use the words below, or you can choose words you think will interest your child. Below are words for every one or two pages of the story.

• gate, lock, peg, goose
• eating, grain, hens, chicks
• sheep, opening up, horns
• ram, riding on, falling down, school bus
• horses, bathroom, pajamas
• cows, bull, ring, fence, broken
• statue, garbage cans, barn, cat
• police, writing, pad of paper, pencil
• picture, porch, butterfly net, hiding
• wild geese, flying, waving, sun
• rocking, running, staircase
• stars, teddy bear, flying away
• riding, dream
• moon, dragon, castle, boat, lions
• bed, sleeping