LOOK OUT, SUZY GOOSE

All the geese are honking, but Suzy Goose, of Silly Suzy Goose (2006), just wants a little peace and quiet. She escapes to the tranquil-seeming woods, her big orange feet flipping and flopping—a sound effect captured in ink-stamped capital letters. Once Suzy’s among the trees, the angry red-orange forest, painted in thickly textured brushstrokes, signals anything but paradise found. Sure enough, here comes a hungry fox, and behind him, a green-eyed, scratched-pencil mess of a wolf. A bear greedily eyes the parading trio of delicacies and tails them. Oblivious to the danger, Suzy is so happy finally to be at peace that she honks loudly. A sleeping owl screeches awake, Suzy’s trackers run scared and, in an inspired line, “Suzy ducked.” If there’s a lesson here, it’s “Don’t run away from home; it’s bound to be worse elsewhere.” Otherwise, it’s a lightly suspenseful read-aloud in which the colors and texture of the strangely beautiful mixed-media illustrations communicate as much, and often more, than the words. (Picture book. 3-5)