On a farm with many geese, all of them line up every morning and march down to the pond for a refreshing morning swim. Igor, the leader, is happy to see their webbed feet perfectly in sync. The other animals on the farm get out of their way and remain mystified as to how this ritual began. No one knows, so they just call it tradition.

Much to Igor's displeasure, Zita, a newcomer, is walking to a different beat. Upset that she is disrupting the order and efficiency of the march, he bans her from the group and orders her to take her swim on her own. But while she is weeping over being ostracized, Zita continues making her own beat, which sounds great to all the other farm animals. Soon they are joining her on the walk to the pond.

Writer and illustrator Jean-Francois Dumont has come up with a delightful parable about those nonconformist souls who march to the beat of their own private drum. This picture book has been designed for children from age four through 8. Last year we reviewed Dumont's The Chickens Build a Wall which was a convincing tale about the folly and danger of allowing our paranoia to get the best of us. It is good to have this author around to introduce important ethical issues to young children.