Whenever one thinks of animal farm stories, the first book that pops into mind is Animal Farm by George Orwell. Even the children’s television series Shaun the Sheep (a spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit franchise) comes into mind. For those who want a new story – something that is worth their time and could be enjoyed by both adults and children for the lessons it brings – Geese Police on Patrol (Halo Publishing; 2021) by Lynda Bulla makes an enjoyable and fun read.
Lynda Bulla grew up in Southern California and has resided in a small farming community of Fresno County for fifty-eight years. She lives with her husband on a ranch where the open fields have inspired many poems and stories, such as Geese Police on Patrol.
The author recently appeared on Kate Delaney’s nationally syndicated radio talk show America Tonight. She was interviewed by the Emmy Award-winning journalist about her book and her work in opening the communication between adults and children. “Quite possibly, this is the best name for a children’s book,” said Kate Delaney. She found the book “so clever, so well done,” and the lessons and illustrations are “absolutely wonderful.”
How did Geese Police on Patrol start?
“The story started by things, something on the Internet,” said Lynda, “which most of my books are not tailored to that. There was a story about a barnyard where two geese that broke up a fight between a couple of chickens. And it said that the geese were police, and I thought that it was a cute saying, that I just had to write something about it.”
Geese Police on Patrol is Lynda’s 8th published work and the 3rd farm storybook in her published works. “I finished it. It turned out to be a chapter book,” said Lynda about the book. “In the beginning, I started out as a picture book that I thought it could be just like a series as the different animals are there in the barnyard or could be in the barnyard. And that’s how it all started with just a little spark of information, a little bit of those on Facebook, I believe.”
There is not one central plot or running theme throughout the various stories in the Geese Police on Patrol. It is a series of tales of the different animals at the farm who find themselves in various (and often humorous) situations.
“There is not one specific plot,” said Lynda. “It’s all about the different animals, and they all have different problems that kind of need to be solved. We have two chickens with a missing egg. An egg disappears, and they have to find it. There’s a sheep that gets sheared, and she was so embarrassed that she doesn’t want to go out in the pasture.”
Of course, as a children’s book, Geese Police on Patrol is not without a moral lesson or two to teach to readers, most especially children, and their parents. “There’s a little bit of message in every chapter along the way. I really designed it for adults and children to read together so that the adult can have an opportunity to talk to the child about whatever is bothering them, and this would have given them the answer.”
Lynda also talked briefly about her other book, The Old Clock on the Wall, which she published years ago with the same purpose as Geese Police on Patrol. She hopes that readers, especially parents, would be encouraged to speak to their children about anything.
“I hope they would use the opportunities to open a line of communication between adults and children,” said Lynda. “For some reason, I have the impression that adults are afraid to talk to their kids about anything anymore.
“I just want to open up that line of communication so that if a child has a problem, they’d feel comfortable going to their parents or the adults in their lives.”
What’s next after Geese Police on Patrol? Lynda told Kate, “Actually, I’m not working on much anything right now because I kind of slow down. I had a stroke back in October, so I can’t type very well.
“I’m waiting for the next time my knees wake up.”
Lynda Bulla’s Geese Police on Patrol is available on Amazon.