Bill Grogan's Goat

by Mary Ann Hoberman, Nadine Bernard Westcott (Illustrator)

Bill Grogan's pesky goat has been eating clothes and getting into lots of trouble. When Bill gets rid of him he ends up on a train with an engineer and a group of raucous barnyard animals and sets off on a great adventure. This hilarious story is written in verse.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Humor, Poetry, Music, Trains

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Mary Ann Hoberman was an American author of over 30 children's books.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure I can get behind any book that starts out with the owner tying his goat to a railroad track and leaving him there when the train comes, but it's an otherwise cute story, with a nice circular ending. And, despite the fact that the goat clearly needs to STOP EATING SHIRTS, he does have fairly decent table manners...

[Rashanda Ravenel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny little book. It reminds me of seeing rows of animals on trains. There is rhyming throughout which is great for helping to build phonemic awareness in young children. This would be a fun book to create a story mat or have children act out the book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute adventure of a goat that got in trouble with his owner for eating his shirts. Fun song and rhyme that kids would love!

[Kristen Dutkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This goat just can't help himself from eating clothes!

[Erin Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Grogan's Goat by: Mary Ann Hoberman (2002) -Predictable

This story is set to a tune so it can be said or sung. It is about a goat who is punished for eating his owner's shirts and his adventure afterwards. The goat gets on a train, meets a variety of animals and trouble ensues.

Themes: Animals, Trains, Mischief

Teaching Options: Since this book is of a predictable pattern it would be easy for beginning readers to read. It could be used as a source of rhymes. Students could then write a story about another animal using rhyme.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is based off a song so it rhymes. It is humorous because the goat gets in trouble for eating clothes on the clothesline which he coughs up. He also gets in trouble for sitting on different animals on a train but he gives them the shirts that he coughed up and the animals are ok with that. They all eat together (except the goat) and mess up the shirts so they wash them. The goat is still hungry so he eats the shirts again. It's predictable but funny.

[Tommy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of our first library books. It's part of another set of sing-along books, but we don't have the recording for this one. The original version of this song is strange (Bill Grogan loves his goat so much that he beats him when he misbehaves and then ties him to the railroad tracks). In this story, the train picks him up and he meets several rude animals. Odd, but I like the illustrations in this series.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of our first library books. It's part of another set of sing-along books, but we don't have the recording for this one. The original version of this song is strange (Bill Grogan loves his goat so much that he beats him when he misbehaves and then ties him to the railroad tracks). In this story, the train picks him up and he meets several rude animals. Odd, but I like the illustrations in this series.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of our first library books. It's part of another set of sing-along books, but we don't have the recording for this one. The original version of this song is strange (Bill Grogan loves his goat so much that he beats him when he misbehaves and then ties him to the railroad tracks). In this story, the train picks him up and he meets several rude animals. Odd, but I like the illustrations in this series.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

a goat likes to eat shirts but his owner doesn't want his shirts to be eaten so he send the goat away after he eats three. A train engineer takes the goat in where he gives each of the three shirts to other animals. These animals get the shirts dirty and they must be washed and hung on the line to dry. Who will get the shirts in the end? Lots of rhymes and texts in cute blocks. preschool.

[Larysa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Grogan's Goat was a predictable, but entertaining story. It starts with the well known story about Bill Grogan's goat eating the shirts and getting tied to the tracks, but it builds on and tells what to the goat once he stops the train. The pictures were colorful and went along well with the fun story.

[Nick Cherry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this book would be a great book to use to get students engaged. It had humor, and there was even a song teachers could use along with the book. I would use this book especially with younger children.

[Lauren Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a really fun book to read with younger kids. It would make a good read-aloud book because it has predictable phrases and even has a rhythm to it. This would also be a good book for introducing rhyming.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The traditional song with merry pictures, makes Flannery laugh every time.

[Annie Delight · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT! Short and super CUTE!!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully fun drawings support the lively rhythm of the song Bill Grogan's Goat. Pure fun to read!

[Shelby Troutman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a song-like style of writting. The children would enjoy the humor of the book.

[Shelbi Bishop · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wonderful song book. It teaches about sharing and forgiveness through song.

[↜ƈɦǟռ☂ɛℓℓɛ↝ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange story about a goat that eats 3 red shirts, and passes them out to other animals, as apologies for being clumsy.

[Bvlmc Buchanan Verplanck Elementary School · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this humorous song book filled with rhymes a silly goat runs away after eating three red shirts, makes some new friends and gives away the red shirts only to eat them up again on washing day.

[Audrey Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literary features: onomatopoeia, rhyme

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on the song Bill Grogan's goat the story is kind of funny but not much else to it.

[Little Champs]

BB 56

[Callie Risse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the rhyming pattern in this story, and the goofy goat who gets into all kinds of mischief.