The Grumpy Goat

by Once Upon a Dance

Aspen & Sycamore Saps live on Maple Street with Mama and Mee. The family enjoys the blackberry bushes growing in the yard until the plants spread out of control. The kids want to get some animals to help, but first they’ll need to convince Mama and Mee. Will their new animal friends help? Or will things get a little crazy?

Move along with the quirky collection of animals, firefighters, and more, joined by a professional ballerina. This interactive story will get kids off the couch, exploring movement and dance fundamentals.

40 pages, Paperback

Published September 6, 2022

About the author

Terrel is a dance educator and storyteller who believes in the transformative power of movement. Through her passion project, Once Upon a Dance, she’s published 42 interactive children’s books that weave whimsical stories with joyful movement.

With her daughter—a former Pacific Northwest Ballet Professional Division student—as the featured ballerina, Terrel brings movement into storytime, encouraging creativity, confidence, and self-expression in young readers.

Each book invites kids to stretch, twirl, leap, and imagine alongside positive characters—from dancing cats to ballerina zombies. Whether reading with a caregiver or moving along in the classroom, children are gently guided to explore feelings, movement, and connection through play.

Once Upon a Dance was named a Top 10 Author by the Outstanding Creator Awards for three consecutive years (2022–2024). The books have earned over 60 book awards—including 14 first-place honors, more than 3,000 five-star reviews, a BEST IN SHOW, and a coveted Kirkus Reviews Starred Review.

Discover the collection at www.OnceUponADance.com or follow their journey on social media.

Reviews

[D.K. Hundt · Rating 5 out of 5]

BlackBerry Book Tour - January 16, 2023

THE GRUMPY GOAT: A Dance-It-Out Creative Movement Story For Young Movers

Illustrations by: Ethan Roffler

Written by: Once Upon A Dance – ‘Brought to you by a mother-daughter pair donating all profits to charity. Ballerina Konora is living her dreams as a Ballet Company Artist. Her mother, Teacher Terrel, taught creative movement and ballet for decades and was recognized by her local City Council for embodying the spirit of partnership and commitment to children for her work with young dancers. She’s breathed dance from every angle and has worked in education and child development, and with various non-profits supporting kids and families.’

Ideal For Ages: 4 – 7

Major Themes Include: problem-solving, the value of family, and kindness to animals.

Aspen (no pronouns), and Sycamore (she) Saps love to hear stories about the unique hats Mee’s (she) customers ask her to create and Mama’s (she) exciting stories as a Firefighter saving people and sometimes bringing home a rescued family pet waiting to be reunited with its owner. Aspen hoped one day soon; they could have a pet cat or dog, never anticipating that a Grumpy Goat named Gary, Piaz, a fun-loving yet temperamental pot-bellied Pig, and a rescued raspberry-blowing Lama named Lulu would be a part of the family, all while they try to figure out what is making Gary so Grumpy.

This is my first time reading a Once Upon A Dance book, which amps up the fun with movement and laughter during story time, be it with your students, children in your care, your children, or, in my case, my granddaughter—and I can’t wait!

Highly Recommend!

Concepts and Movement in this Story:

• Core Strength
• Arabesque (from knees)
• Hands and Feet Locomotion
• Balance
• Weight Shift
• Climbing
• Quality of Movement (Slow/Fast etc.)
• Pliés and Jumps
• Body Part Isolation (Fingers, Thumb, Elbows, Feet, Shoulders, Chin, Tongue, etc.)
• Levels
• Fine Motor Skills
• Coordinated Movement with Voice
• Spinning
• March (Skip)
• Breath In/Out
• Falling
• Shapes
• Counted Movements
• Focus
• Spinning Jump
• Donkey Kick

‘This movement journey is ideal for dance, creative movement, physical education, homeschool, kindergarten, first-grade, or second-grade activities. The Dance-It-Out! series features diverse characters. Books make a great gift for boys or girls interested in dance, ballet, gymnastics, or yoga, or reluctant readers who enjoy getting up and moving.’

Once Upon a Dance has received the following endorsements/awards:

• Kirkus Reviews Starred Review
• PenCraft Award First Place Winner
• Mom’s Choice Gold Award Recipient
• Family Choice Award
• Firebird Book Award First Place
• Royal Dragonfly Book Award First Place
• B.R.A.G. Medallion Award
• International Impact Book Award Winner
• Maincrest Media Award Winner
• Golden Boar Cover of the Year
• Pinnacle Book Achievement Award - Best Book Juvenile Fiction
• Outstanding Creator Awards Winner (Best Children's Book, Winter 2022)
• Readers Favorite Certified Great Read
• Love Reading 4 Kids Indie Books We Love
• Literary Titan 5-Star Book Award
• Indie’s Today 5-Star Recommended
• Wishing Shelf 5-Star Emblem

Thank you, Blackberry Book Tour and Once Upon A Dance, for inviting me to participate in the Blog Tour for THE GRUMPY GOAT at the request of an honest review.

[Steph Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this book with thanks to the author and Blackberry Book Tours. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

I can only apologise to the authors and to Blackberry Book Tours for the lateness of this post – I have no idea how I missed my date, but we loved the book so much that when I realised I still wanted to tell you all about it!

This is such a great idea for a children’s book! It combines a cute story (plus adorable illustrations) with fun, easy-to-perform interpretive dance moves (plus photo examples), so it is an interactive story that the whole family can join in with.

Mr Shine, Minishine (10) and Babybows (7) had a riotously wonderful time crawling, jumping and waddling around the floor, picking pretend blackberries and blowing raspberries, as I read the story aloud to them and enjoyed the silly show!

The human characters in the story feel very real and the animal characters are super cute. The plot is simple but entertaining, the illustrations are lovely, the pose photos are clear and the instructions are easy to follow.

Here is what my kids (goat – kids – see what I did there!) thought:

Babybows: AWESOME! Great! Everything was good! Gary is really funny. I liked ALL of the animals.


Minishine: Some of the moves were really funny too and the pictures of the animals are sweet. The pictures of the ballerina helped me to understand what I was meant to do.

Mr Shine: I thought it was a really nice story and it was fun acting out all the moves – they went really well with it. It was nice to have a happy ending for the grumpy goat.

Minishine: Dad, you’re kind of like the grumpy goat, aren’t you? And I could be the cute llama. So you [Babybows] have to be the PIG!

Babybows: Hey!!!… Oh, actually, I like the pig anyway! [shrugs and beams]

We all thoroughly recommend this book, and not just for the suggested age range of 4-7… older children and even adults can enjoy it too. It’s ideal for a bit of noisy, active, family reading time – or for school story time, if you don’t mind it getting a little boisterous! – and there is a whole series of these Dance Stories to explore, so we may have to check the others out now.

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...

[Billy Buttons · Rating 4 out of 5]

A WISHING SHELF BOOK REVIEW
20th September 2022
TITLE: The Grumpy Goat
AUTHOR: Once Upon a Dance
Star Rating: 4

‘A pig, a llama, and a very grumpy goat, this is a fun picturebook for young children - particularly if they like to stretch and dance!’ The Wishing Shelf

REVIEW
I'm often amazed by how many books Once Upon a Dance has produced. It's very impressive! I've enjoyed a number of them over the years, and I've always loved the way the author offers the reader not only a fun and often exciting story, but also interesting and innovative ways to stretch and dance.
In the latest offering, a family must find a way of helping a grumpy goat not to be so grumpy. And it seems the only way to do that is to get him a few pals - a pig and a llama! Yes, it's all rather surreal. But that's okay; it's not predictable anyway! What follows it's a sweet story written in an easy to follow way and helped along by astounding artwork.
If I was to criticise anything, it would be the author´s tendency to tell and not show. This is particularly a problem at the beginning of the book as, for example, the author tells the reader how Mama, who's a firefighter, pulled tiny ducks out of a sewer. The problem in writing this way is that there's no suspense; it's all over in a sentence. But, other than that, and the odd small, grammatical error, this is a well-written picturebook with a caring feel to the story.
In terms of who it's for, I´d suggest most 5 to 8 year olds would enjoy the story whilst, at the same time, finding the stretching not too taxing to do. I suspect it would go down particularly well in a primary school or, of course, a dance school. It would also be the perfect birthday or Christmas present for a young girl or boy who's interested in dance - and how to cheer up grumpy goats!

A ‘Wishing Shelf’ Book Review
www.thewsa.co.uk

[Amys Bookshelf Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificently unique story that everyone should read!!

What a magnificent story in The Grumpy Goat by Once Upon a Dance. I haven't read work from Once Upon a Dance (a mother and daughter author duo) before, and I enjoyed this story. From the beginning, I knew this was a creative and unique children's story. What I like about it, is that it is intended to get kids moving, and dancing, and reading. Mee owned a hat store, and she created unique and imaginative hats. Mama was a firefighter, and saved people. But the kids, Aspen and Sycamore always hurried home, to hear the stories about the hats, and the stories that Mama told when she did animal rescues. "The Saps lived close to the fire station, and whenever sirens blared nearby, Aspen and Sycamore ran to the porch, hoping to see Mama’s truck rush past. The firefighters looked like superheroes as they drove down the street." The illustrations by Ethan Roffler were very telling, and a great addition to the story. Children (and adults) can look at the picture, and try to get in the perfect animal position. This book would be perfect to read to a child or have the child read it back, and then set it to music and just dance, and dance, and dance again. The Grumpy Goat is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book, to also write a review.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved every book I've read by this amazing mother-daughter duo , and this one is no exception. I am impressed by the way they combine fiction with movements, thanks to which they inspire their young audiences to develop both their imaginative and physical capabilities. The story was cute and the illustrations were beautifully done. I, for one, am still debating which of the cool hats mentioned at the beginning I would buy for myself. Probably the octopus one. Or maybe the taco one? Most importantly, though, I love the inclusiveness of these stories. This one in particular features a female fire fighter, a family with two mums, and attention to pronouns. The themes include problem-solving, the value of family, and kindness towards animals. The story is ideal for kids between 4 and 7. It is intended to be initially enjoyed with a caregiver or teacher, so the language level is a bit more advanced.

All proceeds of this book are donated to charity!

[Hepzibah Becca Jael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Grumpy Goat
Ballerina Konora

BlackBerry book tours

Rating from Jenessa 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Review
Aspen & Sycamore Saps live in Maple Street, their mama is a fire fighter and so the rescue stories around dinner time are the funnest ones. The kids rope their mom into getting a goat for the berry bushes but what happens when the goat's a grumpy pants? And what happens when he refuses to go near the berry bushes?

A cute dance-along story, cute characters, simple writing for kids to understand, easily understandable plot for children and the perfect bedtime story!

[Nicole Dunton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the cutest book! I really enjoyed it. I also really enjoy that it's so interactive. Each page has wonderful dance moves that can be performed to go with the story! How amazing is that? I fully recommend this. I think it would be beneficial of all ages.

[Coffee Book Couch by Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Grumpy Goat is brilliant. Adorable illustrations, glamorous movements, and an energetic story. 5 stars!

[Carola Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute! So so so cute! It's a lovely book! I love it for the dance, for the love for animals, for the fun story, for the creativity! Super recommended!

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Grumpy Goat is a cute story about a family who takes in a grumpy goat in the hopes that it will help tidy up their yard by eating some of the blackberry bushes that are growing out of control. But Gary the Goat is very grumpy and refuses to do anything other than sit by a tree and ignore everyone. Not even Pezi the Pig and Lulu the Llama can bring Gary out of his funk. Will the family ever be able to tackle their out of control blackberry bushes? Will they ever get Gary to stop being so grumpy?
This is a fun read. Each page contains pictures of the movements children can do to pretend they're part of the story as well, from climbing to jumping, spinning and marching. Not only is this a delightful story kids will enjoy reading, but it's interactive and will get kids moving/exercising. How fun!
The story also has lovely illustrations that kids will find really bring the story to life along with the movements.
Another 5 star read from Once Upon a Dance!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sisters Aspen and Sycamore Sap enjoy making blackberry jam with their parents, and they especially love listening to Mama’s stories of the daring animal rescues she has made during her shifts as a firefighter. A frightening dream leads Aspen to investigate ways to keep their backyard blackberry bushes from becoming overgrown, which in turn leads her to consider the possibility of adopting a goat. When her moms unexpectedly agree to Aspen’s suggestion, the Sap family ultimately grows even more in an attempt to make Gary the Grumpy Goat feel more at home.

This delightful story is filled with whimsy and charm in both the narrative and the complementary illustrations. Summery hues adorn the images, giving readers an immediate sense of comfort and familiarity with the Sap family. The text is best suited to elementary school-aged readers due to its length and complexity, but readers of all ages will appreciate the overall design of the book. Like the other books in the Once Upon a Dance canon, this one is subdivided into three pieces: narrative, illustrations, and movement suggestions. Whether readers experience the book in whole or in parts and pieces, there is more for them to discover with each reading.

The movement segment of this book is particularly multifaceted. First, while there are suggestions for movement in general, there is likewise ample opportunity to explore imaginative play. From pretending to be a firefighter to embodying the personalities of the animals in the story, readers will be able to extend their learning far beyond the book itself. Additionally, the movement section includes questions directed at readers to encourage them to dive deeper into the narrative. Whether reading with a grownup or on their own, children will appreciate these invitations for dialogic reading and richer interaction with the story. This is an entertaining and inclusive tale that is sure to get readers moving; it is a positive addition to movement collections for elementary school aged readers.

I received a copy of this book from the author and I chose to leave this review.