One Little Goat

K-Gr 3— Madcap silly adventure ensues when a girl's daddy brings home "a little baby goat." The goat doesn't last long. "A cat came by and ate the goat." The rope holding the goat now protrudes from the mouth of the suave, well-dressed cat, connecting him to the startled girl. Events follow the repetitive scheme of "The House That Jack Built." "Along came a dog/That bit the cat/That ate the goat/The little baby goat/The little baby goat/My daddy bought." Joyner's energetic views of events and small town setting are superbly comic. Lurking children watch and play, and even the houses are expressive as a dog, stick, fire, water, great big ox with slurpy tongue, and a tiny butcher join the melee. It comes to a halt as a goofy tall dark stranger appears. All the players flee, and in "The very, very end" one little goat perches at the table with the little girl and her daddy.