Did you know that a group of geese is called a gaggle? How about a group of dolphins being a pod? I have always found collective nouns to be interesting. Some of them are funny, some of them are the same across different species. Today I am happy to share a cute kids book about language arts, collective nouns, and animals. I also had the opportunity to interview the author, and created some fun activities to pair with the book.

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Does a Gaggle of Geese Giggle? was written by Julia Lynne Cothran and illustrated by Leigh Ellen Stewart. This adorable book uses a fun rhyming text full of alliterations to introduce kids to collective nouns for animal groups. Each two page spread features a different animal group and the name given to them. The illustrations are adorable, featuring big eyed cartoon images of the different animals taking part in silly activities. Kids will love the funny pictures, while adults will appreciate the fun introduction to collective nouns.

I had the opportunity to talk to the author about her background, and the reasons she was inspired to write this book. Julia Lynne Cothran taught in the public school system for 28 years. She taught grades 2-8 with most of that time being spent at the middle school level.

What inspired you to write Does a Gaggle of Geese Giggle?

My students inspired me. After teaching collective nouns year after year and they continued calling everything a bunch or a group, I decided something needed to change. It worked out well because I tied it into subject/verb agreement. That is another story!

What was your favorite part of teaching language arts?

In language arts, I enjoyed teaching prepositions, but the best part of teaching involved the kids! Nothing can replace the rapport one builds with the students.

What do you want readers to take away from your book?

I want the readers to laugh and learn a new collective noun or two through the use of alliteration. I want them to enjoy the book and share it with someone.

What is your favorite collective noun?

In the book, my favorite collective noun is a squad of squid! Ha! I like the sound of alliteration and the image it represents.

Related Post: Children’s Books about Punctuation & Grammar

Animal Group Sort

To play with the collective nouns in this book, we created this fun animal group memory game. Print out the animal group cards, cut them out, and place them face down on a table. Have kids choose two cards at a time, attempting to match the correct collective noun with the group of animals. Continue playing until all the cards are matched correctly.

Animal Hop

We take any opportunity to play make believe, so the funny scenarios in the book inspired us to act out the illustrations. This not only got us moving, but also lead to lots of giggles. Especially on some of the sillier pages!

Goose Craft

We loved the adorable giggling geese in the illustrations, so we decided to make one of our own. First, we took a paper plate, and we cut across the middle of the plate to the border on the other side. We followed the edge of the border back towards the starting point, cutting the interior of the plate in half. We cut a head shape on the end of the border. Then we drew eyes on the head, and glued a yellow triangle on the end for a beak. You can also add white feathers to the body of the goose.

Alliterations

One of the fun parts of this book is the alliteration used in the text. Sometimes this lead to funny situations. This inspired us to create our own silly sentences using alliteration. Choose a letter of the alphabet and think of an animal whose name starts with that letter. Then brainstorm descriptive words, action words, and adverbs that also start with that letter. Write all of these suggestions down and put them together into silly sentences. For example, the letter H could lead to the sentence “Hungry horses hip-hop happily”.

Do you have any favorite activities for teaching kids about collective nouns? What is your favorite kids book about language arts? Share in the comments below!

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