City Geese

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5 This photo-documentary follows a flock of Canada geese through one year of their lives in an urban environment (specifically Fort Collins, Colo.) and includes descriptions of all major activities including nesting, molting, and feeding. Because this information is so similar to that of birds living in the wilderness, this volume could be used for simple research on Canada geese in general. Jack Denton Scott's Canada Geese (Putnam, 1976; o.p.) presents similar information in a more detailed way with black-and-white photographs. In City Geese , the fine quality color photographs are often done an injustice by captions lifted directly from the text; some are useless (a photograph of three geese in flight is labeled ``Flight''). Hirschi advocates welcoming the geese into our cities, but only a brief mention is made of the conflict between golfers and park managers and the geese themselves. City and town dwellers see many signs of this conflict (fences and signs) and deserve a more thorough discussion of the city goose's actual problems. An eight-entry glossary and brief index provide access to basic facts. Ellen Fader, Westport Public Library, Conn.