Come Back, Gosling
Anne Booth and David Litchfield
Templar Books

I’m always attracted to a book with David Litchfield’s name on the cover so I couldn’t wait to read this one.
A little girl and her friend, a little gosling, love spending time together, especially their weekly visit to the library to choose new books. These they read together in their special tree house but one week they choose a book with a gosling on the cover. The little girl glances inside, closes it quickly before Gosling can see the contents and that night she hides the book so Gosling can’t find it.

Back to the library they go the following morning: the librarian allows them to borrow three more books and they return to the treehouse to read them. Again the little girl refuses to complete the first book; the second makes Gosling stretch out and flap his wings and so it too is discarded and they return to the tree house to share a fairy tale book. Inside is an illustration of a flying carpet: “That picture makes me feel all happy inside. It makes me want to spread my wings and jump up and down!” says Gosling. The little girl tries to stop her friend jumping but it’s too late. He tumbles over the edge of the tree house and in falling, opens his wings and … flies.

That night Gosling discovers the hidden book and reads it all the way through. The following morning, the missing book is on the table but there’s no sign of Gosling. Then overhead honking and flapping their wings is a large V shaped formation of geese, at the end of which is Gosling. Yes, Gosling can now follow his own path but it’s a path that the little girl is yet to discover until she does as Gosling says and reads the book right to the end.

The friendship endures with Gosling returning every spring to his much loved little girl.

A lovely story that celebrates friendship and the love of books, beautifully captured in many of the scenes. Right from the front endpapers, of the little girl and Gosling on their way to the tree house with a pile of books, David Litchfield’s illustrations are full of wonderful details. The back ones show the same scene in Autumn except that Gosling is now almost a goose. In between, children will delight in finding other books such as A Shelter for Sadness by Anne and David as well as The Wind in the Willows and other favourites.

A smashing book to share and discuss in EYFS and KS1 story sessions. It’s one wherein migration is an integral part of the narrative rather than an add on.