…wow…

Full disclosure, I requested <i>The Oogly Boogly Google Goose</i> because of its cover. There was just something so wonderfully eye-catching about it, perhaps it was the colors, and so I was willing to enter into whatever odd world this children’s book embodied with a title like that. I was looking forward to it.

I feel kind of tricked, in a sense?

Now, there’s nothing terribly wrong with the story. It’s not anything masterful—the book rhymes, which is nice, but its rhythm is off. The story is…sweet. It’s also clearly meant to give the kids who read it fuzzy feelings and lots of giggles. I’d say if you read this to your child, that’s likely what you’d end up with.

All of that said, the artwork was deeply disappointing.

It’s colorful, I’ll give it that. Eye catching, too, sure. But it’s <i>painfully</i> inconsistent. Every single character that has eyes—the eggs count as characters, right?—end up alternating colors. You mostly see an alternation between blue and green. Goose starts out with blue eyes, then green, then a weird teal mix…then blue again. The fox? Well, the fox also alternates between having blue or green eyes.

Then there are the eggs…which are different colors and patterns on <I>Every. Single. Page.</i>

Also, the goose is similar at times, but often vastly different. The fox changes. The artwork style swaps from page to page. It feels like this was done by a team of artists who couldn’t sit together and agree on one style, so they all just threw their type in the hat for the page they worked on. It’s like that scene in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty: “Make it green!” “Make it blue!” “Make it pencil!” “Make it digital!” “Make it huge!”

It’s for all of these reasons that I have this very sneaking suspicion that the artwork was either entirely done by AI or very, <i>very</I> influenced by it. I won’t make an accusations here, but I will say that I would not be in the least surprised if it came out that this was true.

And even if it wasn’t done by AI, it’s still incredibly jarring and off putting to have all of those random changes pop up across every single page. The story isn’t good enough to make up for how awful this artwork experience was. Like, my goodness…get some consistency, please.

<i>I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

A quick cute reads to the little ones in your life.
With clever rhyming sentences and a good moral story, this would be a good addition to any bookshelf and nighttime routine!
The only thing I wish it didn't have was for every word to start with a capital. But this doesn't take away from the story.
I'll certainly be buying it for my friends child!

This is a book about an unusual mother goose and her determination to protect her eggs from a predatory fox.

The story essentially demonstrates the extents to which a mother will go to protect her children.

Written in rhyming text that includes some nonsense words, the story rhythms may appeal to young children. The art on this one is a mixed bag, as far as I am concerned. The fox and the eggs are nicely drawn, the goose is definitely more appealing in some of the panels than in others. The book is adequate in getting the message across, but perhaps not outstandingly memorable.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really funny and colorful story, perfect for anyone to read.

It was a cute story and my daughter enjoyed it! I did find the text a bit difficult to read. I think a less cursive font would help and a more opaque text box

The vibrant colors and rhyme are engaging and fun! Happy ending. Great to read with kids, especially in the springtime!

Ahhh! So cute special in this season!!

The illustrations were amazing and the story was really easy to catch up.

The book was easy and had a lot of good things going on!

I enjoyed entering the whimsical world of the Oogly Boogly Googly Goose who would do anything to protect her eggs.

Found this book to be very entertaining, colourful and engaging. Will definitely read this to my little one again.

Your kids will enjoy all the wonderfully descriptive rhyming; it reminded me of The Wonky Donkey book, which I love. Since the rhyming and story flow so well, it’s easy to read the text in silly voices, especially the parts with the fox. The pictures are bright and colorful. The font choice for most of the text is a bit difficult to read. This book is ideal for younger children, including those learning to read. As such, an easy-to-read print font would have been best.

Additionally, I don’t know that children would mind it, but if the author included traditional non-digital AI-looking illustrations, the images would have been more aesthetically pleasing. I understand that conventional illustration is very expensive, so I understand why the author chose AI-looking digital pictures. Children’s books with brilliant illustrations, like the ones featured in the Llama Llama series, are my favorite, and I find that they are more engaging for children as well. Overall, I recommend the book; the writing is fun, and the premise is charming.

"The Oogly Boogly Googly Goose" by Lucas Light is a children's picture book that will have your kids laughing. It's funny with great descriptions and cartoonlike colorful pictures, and a good plot. The mother goose has a full nest of "Slinky Dinky Prinky" eggs. One day the "teeny weeny meany sneak(y)" fox comes spying and finds the eggs. The "Oogly Boogly Googly Goose" puts up such a fuss that she scares off the fox to protect her eggs. It's heartwarming and family friendly. In each picture of the nest the eggs look different and there are a different number of eggs in the nest. Challenge kids who notice this to count the eggs and tell what is different about them and try to explain why they change. (Ie. Magic, or growing up changing as they develop, or different nests of eggs over time, for instance. )

Highly recommend for families with young children and children's libraries!

Thank you to Netgalley, Books Go Social, and Lucas Light for this e-book so I could write a review.