The Princesses came for a visit last week. They are a couple of wild girls! They live in the city and don’t get to come visit us in the country very often. The neighborhood where they live is a nice one and they have lots of friends, but they don’t have a pony or goats or chickens or woods to explore or a river to skip rocks in. We have all of these things here.
The Princesses were quite taken with the goats. I have talked about the goats before. We have TWO Angora Goats. One black and one white. They are very talkative — Maaaaaaa! The Noodle Princess was quite intrigued with this.
Because they liked those goats so much, we found a book called Let’s Count Goats! It’s a great little book by Mem Fox and illustrated by Jan Thomas. It was published by Beach Lane Books in 2010. It’s a rollicking good romp with goats. Both the girls thought it was super and wanted to read it numerous times.
The illustrations are really funny and show goats eating all kinds of things. Like beach umbrellas and suitcases and tables and airplanes! Our goats eat a lot of stuff that they shouldn’t, but I’ve never seen them eat any of those things! The tale opens with “Here we see a mountain goat frisking in the sun. And here we see a city goat going for a run. But can we count the SEASIDE goats? (I think there’s only one.)” And so it goes — with goats adding up in different scenarios. ( a nice big word!) And there are NO numbers in the book! You have to count them for real! The Noodle Princess, who is just a small wee thing, is just learning how to count and she was jumping right in to see how many goats were on each page!
I think we give this book 4 paws and 4 hands up! Yay for goats! You should check it out!
Mem Fox has a nice website with all kinds of resources and information about books and reading and literacy.
Jan Thomas has a fun website with a list of her books and fun activities to go with them.
And here is a clip of Ms Fox talking about this very book! Let’s Count Goats!
And with this book added to my 2013 list, I have 288 more to go!
Reading With Rhythm 
Mem Fox rocks! (say that fast twice) That looks awesome fun!
Rar,rar,rar! I can’t say it once! But I agree with the sentiment!
Wonderful post. I love the pictures and your theme! What fun!
Thanks Ms Tilton!
THIS sounds like one my grandkiddos would like. Those are some beautiful little princesses you are with!
Those Princesses are quite lovely young things. And yes, your grandkids would love this book. Ms Thomas’s pictures are just perfectly funny.
Woohoo! I have this book….I also enjoy the pictures of goats eating everything. Your goaty friends look very fluffy – you could make some fantastic hats from their fleece…
You are a lucky guy to have this book! I find it very funny. Yes, our goats are VERY fluffy. The Mom Person is learning how to spin that stuff. No hats yet though. I’m hoping for a nice chewy mohair rabbit.
You’re really on the “farm beat” with all these books. They all look so fun to share, and I know for sure that goats eat all kinds of crazy things. So, how’s the book count going?
I’m a little behind on the book count. Those little Princesses had me pretty busy! But whew! Not too bad. I’ve read and reviewed 12 books so far! 288 more to go! Thanks for asking!
I am quite taken with the goats and the princesses! Anything by Mem Fox is a winner in my book!
Yes, Ms Fox is wonderful! and Ms Thomas’s illustrations are just right!
No better friend than a dog. we have 4 and could not part with any. they are members of the family and each have their distinct personalities. I used to have angora goats, 3 of them .. I would shear them and spin their fleece. beautiful fibre to work with.. their fleece grew quickly, faster than a sheep’s wool and so beautiful… it is called mohair.
Nice to hear from such a dog person! And goat person! I’m not crazy about those goats, but the Mom Person loves them. Even with all the work. She’s learning how to spin the mohair and even enjoying that. Thanks for stopping by!