Goat Is the G.O.A.T.

Bea Birdsong (BeaBirdsong.com) is the author of I Will Be Fierce!, Sam’s First Word, How to Spot a Best Friend, Boop!, and other books for children. She lives in North Carolina with her family and spends her days creating books to entertain and empower readers of all ages. Bea wants you to know that you (yes, YOU) are the G.O.A.T.Kelly Murphy (KelMurphy.com) is a New York Times bestselling author-illustrator and recipient of the E. B. White Read Aloud Award. Her forty-nine books have earned countless accolades and have been translated into sixteen languages. She teaches illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with her husband and their many animal companions. In her youth, Kelly worked at a small farm, where she befriended many animals and witnessed the unstoppable determination of goats.

“A gray-coated, blue-eyed goat, first seen on the title page munching greenery up in an apple tree, overhears some barnyard residents speaking admiringly. ‘He’s the G.O.A.T.,’ they say, ‘Greatest of all time!’ Goat, listening around the corner, doesn’t realize that the object of their praise is a blue-ribbon-wearing bull on a poster. Goat is delighted to be appreciated, imagining a trophy, a parade, some yummy confetti. ‘But . . . what makes me the greatest?’ Goat wonders. Could it be that he is the fastest of all time? Actually, the dappled horse is faster. Strongest? The donkey is demonstrably stronger. Greatest leader, loudest, farthest spitter, highest jumper, muddiest, fuzziest? None of these. Goat is not even the bravest! The farm denizens (sheep, border collie, llama, frog, pig, rooster, cat, mouse) in this sequence have lively, friendly, earnest animal faces. . . . Murphy’s lighthearted, sunny, full-color illustrations and humorous details convey a busy, happy farm. . . . Nicely paced, funny, and appealing, and full of optimism and goodwill.” —Kirkus Reviews