Ever since meeting Gossie and her gosling friends last summer during our toddler summer reading program, my daughter and I have read and re-read the Gossie & Friends series by Olivier Dunrea. My husband and I even bought our daughter her own set of Gossie & Friends books for her birthday and Christmas.
Gossie & Gertie follows Gossie and Gertie, the two goslings introduced in Gossie. Gossie wears bright red boots, and Gertie wears bright blue boots. Gossie and Gertie are best friends. The two goslings play together every day. Everywhere that Gossie goes, Gertie follows — until one day when Gertie decided to go her own way. Will Gossie and Gertie remain best friends?
My daughter and I both loved Gossie & Gertie for a couple of reasons. First, like the other Gossie & Friends books, the language in Gossie & Gertie is simple and repetitive. Repetitiveness is essential for toddlers acquiring language and for early readers who are learning to read the language. However, despite the repetition, the story is still interesting and never boring. I have read all the Gossie & Friends books to my daughter more times than I can count, but I have yet to grow bored or annoyed. I can, will, and have read all the books in the series again and again.
Second, I absolutely adore the illustrations in Gossie & Gertie (and the rest of the series). The illustration style is whimsical. Although simple, the pictures are extremely interesting. I could spend hours just looking at all the details on each page. My daughter, who adores ducks (goslings are pretty darn close to ducks in her mind), also loves looking at the pictures. She especially loves the pages with the sheep and the frog in Gossie & Gertie.
Final Verdict: Gossie & Gertie is another brilliant title in the Gossie & Friends series by Olivier Dunrea. Both my daughter and I enjoyed the story of Gossie and Gertie, two best friends who like to wear boots. I also appreciate the simple and repetitive language, which is perfect for my toddler daughter. Both of us especially love the whimsical illustrations. If you are looking for a book to read with your young child, I cannot recommend Gossie & Gertie and the other Gossie & Friends books enough!
Image Credits
Cover of Gossie by Olivier Dunrea © 2013 Heather Johnson
Inside Pages of Gossie by Olivier Dunrea 1 © 2013 Heather Johnson
Inside Pages of Gossie by Olivier Dunrea 2 © 2013 Heather Johnson
