Papa Goose

Michael Quetting is exhausted and covered in goose shit. One moment a gosling is sleeping soundly under his sweater and the next, there’s one tugging at his shoelaces. Being father to a gaggle of goslings that won’t let you out of their sight is a full-time job.


As a laboratory director at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Quetting must transform the motley gang into a disciplined flight crew so researchers can gather data about weather and flight patterns. Detaching from civilization and immersing himself in the training, Quetting leads his young on daily swims, retrieves them when they go astray, and watches as their personalities develop—feisty, churlish, loveable—while solving problems such as how to roll down the runway without running the geese over before they even get airborne.


This charming book traces Quetting’s heart-warming and highly entertaining adventure as goslings Gloria, Nemo, and the rest of the crew conquer land, water, and air. By the time the journey is over, Quetting has learned from his charges more than he ever expected about nature and what it means to be human.

“Papa Goose is destined to become a classic. This book has everything in it I love: great animals beautifully portrayed as individuals; cool science; drama, discovery, and personal transformation. You will love it!” —Sy Montgomery, author of Birdology and The Soul of an Octopus

“Papa Goose is a charming, expertly crafted blend of Quetting's research into geese and love for them as his animal family. The adopted scientist father of this gaggle is an expert in bird biology — but he also knows there is much more to life than what scientific instruments can tell us.” —Jim Robbins, author of The Man Who Planted Trees and The Wonder of Birds