There's a Billy Goat in the Garden: Based on a Puerto Rican Folk Tale

Laurel Dee Gugler

ISBN 10: 1841480894 / ISBN 13: 9781841480893

Published by Barefoot Books, 2003

About this Item

Seller Inventory # CIN1841480894G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: There's a Billy Goat in the Garden: Based on a Puerto Rican Folk Tale
• Publisher: Barefoot Books
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1841480894
• ISBN 13: 9781841480893
• Binding: Hardback
• Illustrator: Beaton, Clare
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

All the animals on the farm try to get the billy goat out of the garden and are unsuccessful, until an unexpected creature shows up to try his hand at the task.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-A billy goat has gotten into the flower garden where a family's laundry is hanging to dry and the children can't get him out. The rooster tries to chase him away, followed by the dog and the pig and progressively larger animals, until even the galloping horse fails to budge the goat. The tiny bee decides to give it a try, despite the ridicule of the others, and, of course, succeeds, proving once again that size doesn't count. What does count here is the simple, rhythmic text, with rhyming adjectives and repetitive phrases that will have everyone in storyhour chiming in. The wonderful appliqu‚d illustrations are made mostly of felt, but the artist also uses cotton prints, buttons and beads, and detailed stitchery. The art is even more spirited than Beaton's There's a Cow in the Cabbage Patch (Barefoot, 2001); the pictures here are rich in texture and detail, and the narrative is a triumph of simplicity in storytelling.
Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PreS-Gr. 1. Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog." In this playful picture book, based on a Puerto Rican folktale, it is a tiny bee that finally convinces the stray goat to exit the garden, even after the mightier rooster, dog, pig, donkey, cow, and horse take their turns at chasing him away. The refrain "There's a billy goat in the garden / and he will NOT come out" appears on every other spread, making a rhythmic, repetitive read-aloud. Beaton creates appealing, though sometimes stilted, cloth compositions by using a variety of cheerful fabrics connected with big visible stitches. Children will delight in the triumph of the tiny in this festive fable, lovingly crafted. Karin Snelson
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