In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the classic story of that silly goose Petunia is available in this special paperback edition. In this first book of the series, Petunia finds a book. She decides that if she owns a book she must be wise and dispenses hilariously mistaken advice to the other animals in the farmyard.

Petunia is a clever story about how things are not always as they seem. One day Petunia finds a book in the meadow and decides to carry it around everywhere so no one would ever again think she was just a silly goose. The plan backfires when the other animals begin coming to her for advice. Since she cannot actually read the book she carries around, her advice is wrong and ends up hurting others.  The story  reads smoothly, with a repeating line, and plenty of illustrations breaking up the text. The pictures are drawn with thick black pen and colored in with bright primary colors.

The lessons in this story are excellent fodder for conversations with your child. One lesson is the danger of too much pride. Petunia is so proud of herself for being taken seriously that she walks around with her head held high. Eventually, her neck stretch out too far! Also, because she is pretending to be something she is not - a reader - she and many of the other animals end up getting injured. Petunia explains her revelation to readers, "It was not enough to carry wisdom under my wing. I must put it in my mind and in my heart. And to do what I must do - learn to read." What a wonderful way to help get your little one excited about reading!