Skylar (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Skylar Jeannette Hulick Cuffe-Perez, Mary Skylar illus. by Renata Liwska. Philomel, 2008 [144p] ISBN 0-978-399-24543-5 $14.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 3–5 Unlike the wild geese that fly over his home, Skylar (a Canada goose who got lost in an ice storm on his first and only migration) and his three companions are “pond geese,” who live a cushy but uneventful life in a manmade pond surrounded by whimsical garden statuary. When a one-eyed heron (mistakenly dubbed “the Who-on” by one of the geese) accidentally ends up at their pond, the pompous Skylar decides to make good on his claims as a former wild goose and lead the Who-on, along with his fellow pond geese, to a key point along the annual migration route. The inexperienced geese face several setbacks along the way, including the shooting death of Weedle, the youngest goose, but ultimately decide to join the ranks of wild geese flying southward rather than return to their safer but less satisfying pond. An old woman who records the number of geese that pass her house on their migration provides a frame at beginning and end of this realistic animal fantasy, adding a human element that may draw in readers who have felt similarly enchanted by the calls of wild geese. The description of the geese’s journey is intriguing and entertaining, and pertinent factual information is woven in without too much shoehorning. However, the characterizations are uneven (and none of the geese are really that likable), and the dialogue is often clichéd or overly dramatic (“I thought I had flown beyond my fears, but here they are again”). There is genuine drama in Weedle’s death, but its occurrence within the last ten pages of the book turns the conclusion into a somewhat shocking experience at odds with the emotional tenor of the rest of the book. Though it’s difficult to identify which goose is which in the occasional black-and-white drawings, the illustrations are attractive in their gently textured shadings. Despite the book’s flaws, migrating geese have a magnetic pull on some folks, and readers who share Skylar’s journey may eye those geese in the mall’s retention pond a bit differently after this. Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois