Gooney Bird Greene is a story about stories. It begins with Gooney Bird’s introduction to her new class and school as Mrs. Pidgeon teaches her class that all stories have a beginning, middle, and end. Mrs. Pidgeon’s lesson on “what makes good stories” (3) is paired with Gooney Bird’s arrival because Gooney turns out to be an expert storyteller, skilled in the art of turning her own lived experiences into entertaining and suspenseful narratives.

Mrs. Pidgeon urges her class to consider the element of characters, and how each story has at least one. Enthralled by her unique appearance and manner, they hope to hear a story about Gooney Bird, and so begins a week of storytelling in which Gooney Bird delights in being the center of her class’s attention. Gooney Bird’s stories contain several key elements that Mrs. Pidgeon or Gooney Bird points out, including suspense, mystery, imagery, cliffhangers, and an overarching theme. Mrs. Pidgeon, seeing how engaged the class is, compliments Gooney Bird on her storytelling abilities and encourages her to tell the class more. Even Malcolm, who previously was always tuned out from the lesson, begins to listen, comment, and question.