After the egg he finds hatches, a little boy finds himself face to face with a baby goose. “He stared at me. I stared at him. And I became his mother. That’s how it is with birds.” The young goose imprints himself on the boy, copying his every move. Soon the boy and goose are joined by a newly hatched duckling. The copying game becomes a chain as the goose mimics the boy and the duck mimics the goose. The slightly silly antics are mellowed by Priscilla Lamont’s tender watercolor artwork. After a midnight excursion lands the two birds at the police station, the little boy realizes that his feathered friends are getting ready to leave the nest. “That’s how it is with birds,” the little boy reminds himself. The gentle messages about caretaking and the rhythms of nature are expressed with humor and warmth in this book for young readers. (Ages 4–6)

Whatever I did, Goose did.
Whatever Goose did, Duck did.
When I sat down, Goose sat down.
Duck sat down too.

What's a little boy to do when a goose and a duck think that he's their mother? Especially when they follow him around, doing everything he does!

Newbery Medal winner Jean Craighead George's comic story and Priscilla Lamont's lively art make for a silly tale about boys, geese, ducks, and the rhythms of nature.