Give a Goat (Written by Jan West Schrock; Illustrated by Aileen Darragh)

Today, I am revisiting a book that is dear to my heart–Give a Goat. Here is what I already posted about it on a previous day. . .

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com

Picture book for K-5, contemporary
Fifth-grade class as main characters
Rating: A beautiful book with a wonderful message.

Short, short summary: If you have ever heard of the nonprofit organization, Heifer International, then you may be familiar with “giving a goat.” In Give a Goat, a fifth-grade class listens to the book Beatrice’s Goat. This book tells the story of Beatrice, who lives in Uganda and wants to go to school, but her family doesn’t have enough money. Someone gives them a goat, and the goat produces enough milk to drink and sell. With the extra money, Beatrice is able to go to school. The fifth graders in Give a Goat want to do the same for a family, so they do some research about Heifer International in the library. Through their math class, they decide to raise $120 to buy a goat by selling healthy snacks to teachers. They also sell snacks at recess and a basketball game. When they finally finish their project, they have $180–enough to buy a goat, a flock of chickens, and some ducks. The illustrations in this book are so cute, and kids have fun finding the goat drawn “secretly” in many of the pictures.

To see the activities that I suggested with Give a Goat, check out my post here. You will need to scroll down to the “So, what do I do with this book?” section. Thanks!

Three Silly Chicks is a great blog about silly children’s books. They have a lot of information on their website about Heifer International, the organization that is highlighted in Give a Goat.

Check out their entire website about great children’s books that will bring a smile to your face, but especially look at this page about a great idea for a gift NOW or anytime of the year. . . Three Silly Chicks help the world.

photo by tomeppy www.flickr.com

A great gift for any reason could be a donation to Heifer International and Give a Goat to explain it all–to people at any age! Heifer International also supplies email cards or real cards to let people know you gave a gift in their honor.

Thanks for reading!