The greedy goat

PreS-Gr 2-Tired of her usual diet of herbs and grass, Goat spends Saturday wandering the farmyard in pursuit of some new fare. She eats the dog's food for breakfast (washed down with the cat's milk), gobbles the pig's scraps for lunch (along with a plant and a shoe snatched from the farmhouse), and downs the farmer's underpants for dinner (filched off the clothes line). Not surprisingly, Goat feels unwell that evening, and turns a variety of colorful (and fun-to-identify) shades, before settling on pea green. When the farm family notices the missing objects, there is some consternation, but their primary concern is for Goat. After spending Sunday convalescing (dramatically laid out over a spread), she makes a gradual, day-by-day recovery. By Saturday, she's pretty much herself again, but the story's open ending will leave young listeners wondering if Goat has learned her lesson. Done in bright hues and inviting textures, the folksy mixed-media illustrations work in harmony with the rhythmic, well-paced telling. Goat's body language and facial expressions underscore each moment-smug pleasure while greedily chomping everything in sight, the tongue-lolling agony of a tummy ache, the self-satisfied pose (with farmer's boot in mouth) at book's end. -VERDICT This delightful cautionary tale has crowd-pleasing artwork, giggle-inducing humor, and plenty of opportunity for participation, either in storytime or small group sharing.-Joy Fleishhacker, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Goat, tired of her usual feed, seeks out new forms of nourishment--and then some.One Saturday, Goat decides she's bored of her diet of herbs and grass. She begins a multiple-course meal, eating the dog's food, the cat's milk, the pig's potato scraps--even the farmer's pants! At first, the combination of foods and fabrics is delicious, but, after a few too many bites, Goat starts to feel queasy. She changes color from white to red to blue to yellow to green in successive vignettes, until she is down for the count. A week passes before she finally feels like herself again. Will she go back to grass, or has her greed altered her appetite forever? The minimal text is clear and straightforward. Its rhythm and repetition build, starting out with few sentences per page and then rising to a cacophony of voices as the all-white farming family and their animals wake up to find their meals (and Goat) missing. Horácek's richly textured art is large enough to share at a distance--and wonderful to pore over up close. The cautionary tale of overeating calls to mind The Very Hungry Caterpillar. But, unlike Carle's metamorphosed-into-beauty caterpillar, Horácek's stubborn goat stays just as she is: greedy and hilariously foolish.Delectable. A surefire hit with hungry goats and hungry readers alike. (Picture book. 2-5)