Mindi and the Goose No One Else Could See

The late McBratney presents a novel approach to the perpetual childhood need for an imaginary friend, this time a large invisible goose who is a bit cumbersome, and who sends a young white girl, Mindi, into her parents' bed repeatedly. Her father, recalling an older gentleman, Austen, who is a problem-solver, sets off on a journey. The illustrations have an old-fashioned look: idyllic mountainous green pastures and wooden fences; tidy farm animals and well-intentioned folk of, perhaps, northern European descent in snug knickers; Scandinavian sweaters; Wellingtons; and wool caps. Mindi faces a choice. To receive a baby goat from Austen to care for and call her own, she must let Austen have the large goose that no one else can see. The baby goat wins, but when Mindi's father visits Austen to give thanks, the old gentleman does indeed have a new goose. VERDICT Crisp retro watercolors and a gentle story are knit into a warm and tender tale.—Kimberly Olson Fakih, School Library Journal

Mindi can't sleep: there's a big, scary goose in her room that enters "as quietly as a thought comes into your head," but her parents don't see it. Ólafsdóttir (Play?) represents it as a sinuous, goose-shaped shadow of various objects in the child's room. "Well, you'll just have to close your eyes and make it not real," her mother says. Mindi's father, meanwhile, consults a wise old farmer named Austen, walking to Austen's hillside farm, then returning there with Mindi. A young goat strolls into the kitchen, and Mindi asks its name. "Oh, I have so many goats that I have run out of names," Austen says. "I would call her Black-and-Whitey," Mindi says. "Perfect," he responds. And his solution to Mindi's goose problem is similarly collaborative and respectful. Winsome mixed-media spreads and vignettes by Ólafsdóttir alternate between the white characters' cozy interiors and farm scenes, while chapter book-like writing by McBratney (Guess How Much I Love You) develops Austen as a character by witnessing the way he attends to Black-and-Whitey's needs, prefiguring the way he will attend to Mindi's. McBratney shows what it's like to listen authentically to children—and to believe them.

Winsome mixed-media spreads and vignettes by Ólafsdóttir alternate between the white characters' cozy interiors and farm scenes, while chapter book-like writing by McBratney (Guess How Much I Love You) develops Austen as a character by witnessing the way he attends to Black-and-Whitey's needs, prefiguring the way he will attend to Mindi's. McBratney shows what it's like to listen authentically to children—and to believe them.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Mindi is terrified of the big goose—composed of shadows—that shows up in her bedroom, and though her dad looks for it and her mom threatens it with wooden spoons, the goose remains...Ólafsdóttir's gentle-hued art combines watercolors and soft pencil outlines that contribute to the fable feel of the tale, while stretching shadows illustrate how a lamp or a curtain rod can transform into a giant goose in Mindi's bedroom. Late author McBratney (Guess How Much I Love You) strikes an interesting perspective that could be helpful to viewers with fearsome shadows in their own rooms.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books