Hank Goes Honk recounts the brightly illustrated journey of Hank, a constantly honking, balloonpopping goose, as he tries to become less obnoxious (which, the book helpfully points out for younger readers, “means extremely unpleasant, which means not nice”). With jagged red shapes sometimes silhouetting Hank’s honking form and the honks actually staining the ground in his wake, Beedie really captures the destruction of Hank’s obnoxiousness. But this is not just a redemption story of a disruptive goose mending his ways to find friends; it’s also a story that explains how letting go of bad habits doesn’t have to happen in a straight line. Just because Hank returns to his honking ways briefly doesn’t mean that he can’t do his best to get a little less obnoxious every day, and, even more importantly, it doesn’t mean his newfound friends will write him off. The book ends on a cliff-hanger, with the clear message that self-improvement is possible.–Booklist
Hank Goes Honk is a tale of rudeness that centers on the actions of Hank, a very rude goose that thinks little about his impact on others around him. Despite his proclivity for alienating others, Hank is actually lonely for friends. As the story progressively chronicles Hank’s rude and alienating mannerisms, kids receive an engaging way of absorbing their own impact on the world and others around them – revelations which will be especially nicely enhanced by adult read-aloud participation in Hank’s discoveries.–Midwest Book Review
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