Henry and Anthony [Paperback]

H. Lynn Beck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2009

Henry is a special goose who has his foot amputated when his curiosity leads him to follow a college student into a building and the door closes too quickly. Father and Mother Goose have taught Henry to believe in the Great Goose. Fearful he could not survive with an amputated foot; he waits and listens for a guiding message from the Great Goose. After three days, Henry thinks he hears it. Not knowing where he is going, he flies and eventually lands in Nebraska. He makes friends with a Cobbler who creates a prosthetic foot for him. He flies on to California and he meets a homing pigeon who is lost. They become flying partners. Eventually, they team up with three Tula Geese (from Russia) and two geezer geese from California and a Mallard Duck. Henry learns to snowboard and Anthony rides a grizzly bear down the mountain. They save two young girls from a car wreck and rescue a squad of Marines in Iraq, where they are wounded. They eventually make their way safely back to the Cobbler.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Beck was raised on farm in Nebraska and served two terms in the Peace Corps (El Salvador and Brazil). He lived 10 years in Brazil where he worked in agriculture. Now married with 3 children, he returned to the U.S.A. after being out of the country for 8 years. He worked in a Nebraska factory for a year and then as a farm manager, also, in Nebraska. He moved his family to the St. Louis area where he now teaches statistics in the School of Business at Southern Illinois University and works with several small businesses. He also volunteers his time to farmers in Moldova and Ukraine spending about three weeks a year there.

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (May 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419602942
• ISBN-13: 978-1419602948
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,417,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a Nebraska farm boy who joined the Peace Corps. I worked with Indian farmers in El Salvador where I learned to speak Spanish fluently. I recall my Spanish teacher telling me three weeks into my first college semester that, perhaps, I should drop the course because not everyone has the ability to learn languages. Later, I spent almost a year in Nicaragua working with farmers and then 10 years in Brazil ranging from the Northest to Central to Southern. This included an arid area, a mining area and the tropical area around Cuiaba, Matto Grosso where cities grew from jungle to 25,000 people in five years.
I managed farms in Nebraska and Kansas for eight years and then moved to Illinois where, after a couple years, I started teaching at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
This book was started when my son, a U.S. Marine, was in his second tour in Iraq during the seige of Fallujah. I died a little each day as news updated the number of wounded and killed. To escape, I created this story. I had heard of several interesting bird incidents that were funny and unlikely. I strung them together and added some details. Many of these little stories I had shared with my SIUE students in our Business Statistics course. When I felt their frustration reaching a peak as I lectured, I stopped and told them a goose story. When they laughed; they relaxed and I continued the lesson.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A charming story!, June 20, 2010

By 

Terri Mcintyre "Author of Stronghold" (northern Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Henry and Anthony (Paperback)

Henry and Anthony is a charming novel about friendship and loyalty. Henry is a Canada goose, Anthony a lost homing pigeon. They have unusual adventures. Henry grows up on a university campus where he experiments with speed flight, a skill that he uses in future challenges as he travels the world with a small gaggle of friends.

On one level Henry and Anthony is a children's story, although, as such, illustrations would have helped kids understand more of the humor and insights. The photographs at the end of the book help somewhat. It's evident that H. Lynn Beck really knows geese. We own a family of geese; I found myself nodding frequently at his descriptions of their behavior. I read the first few pages to my grandson and he interrupted several times to say, "Hey, our goose Chip does that!" or "That's just like Chip's and Lady's goslings!"

On a deeper level, I consider the story an allegory about a youth (or youthful gander) facing and overcoming challenges, from physical to social to spiritual. Henry loses a foot in an accident, but pursues an inner drive to discover his purpose in life; he spends time with a flock of geese who become intoxicated from strange berries near a highway and create havoc, and as a result he learns a lesson in choosing his friends wisely.

I admit I was put off at first by the devotion of the Henry and his parents to The Great Goose. I thought, oh this is going to be a sermon in disguise. However, Beck blends the religious faith of Henry's family with the wider view of a society of both believers and non-believers (whether human or geese, ducks or pigeons). The author treats all his characters with the equanimity of a person who sincerely cares about others.

The clear writing style makes it easy to read aloud to children (or silently to oneself as well). I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys animal stories and allegories, or just good writing.