In my opinion, “The Geese March in Step” by Jean-Francois Dumont, is a good book. I liked the imagery used in the book, the phrasing allowed the readers to visualize the story in their head through the very detailed and directed word choice. For example, they specified the sound of each animal talking i.e. the duck quacked, the cow mooed, the woodpecker pecked. The illustrations matched with the content of the story, helping readers better understand and follow along. In the beginning of the story the goose is portrayed with its head hanging low, to symbolize shame and embarrassment, yet at the end he is drawn with his head up high showing his pride. This book pushes readers to realize that not everyone is the same, or can do the same thing, everyone is different and that’s okay. You are the best version of yourself. ( )

I read the book The Geese March in Step by Jean-Francois Dumont and enjoyed it. Zita was a new goose in a flock and wasn’t able to walk in sync with the other geese correctly down to the water hole and was told to leave and go later by herself. She ended up starting her own step without even realizing it and all the other farm animals joined in and marched to her step with her. She became her own leader and didn’t live to impress anyone else anymore. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book. They show all the animals throughout with great emotions, whether it be geese in line getting annoyed with Zita, or Zita crying later in front of the surprised pigs, I think the illustrations really help the deeper meaning of the book. This book focused on showing the importance of being yourself and sticking to it. Zita couldn’t stay in step with the geese and was shunned, but she had her own rhythm she enjoyed walking to and stayed true to that but never forced anyone else to follow her lead. She became much happier at the barn and made many friends, not just other geese. ( )

I liked this book for many reasons. To start, I liked the message that this book sent to the readers. I think that this book sends a message of being who you want to be, including the idea that even when you feel left out and not included, you should not change who you really are. The language in this book is very clear, and flows from beginning to end. I like the word choice that was portrayed in the book. For example, even though this is a picture book, the words that were used in the text created a sense of imagery, such as “webbed feet struck the ground” and “rumps waddled together in time”. I also think the choice of words were used to express noises from animals, such as “peek, peek, peek” or “he haw he haw he haw”. The illustrations showed the sadness of the duck when he felt left out, but also showed the joy in the duck when he had all of his friends following him in line. The illustrations in the text were vibrant pictures of other animals, which grasped my attention and made me want to flip to the next page to see what animal was next. ( )

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. ( )

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!