Ada doesn t need the goat. She doesn t want the goat. So why isn t she happy when it leaves?

When Ada leaves town and moves into a fixer-upper cottage on a hill, she can t wait to settle into a life of peace and quiet. She ll wear a soft gray coat and grow perfect red apples, and everything will be just so. 

Yet Ada s lovely plans are soon dashed by a troublesome goat that hangs around long after she frees it from a tangle with a fence. Its antics undo her perfect new life piece by piece, until Ada snaps and sends the goat firmly on its way. Never again will it chase after her apples or sleep on her porch or nibble on her soft, gray coat. And suddenly, Ada isn t so glad. What if it s stuck in a fence again?

A triumphant reunion, complete with baby goats, perfectly concludes this adorable and timeless tale of reluctant animal love. Heidi Aubrey s prancing, clattering goat illustrations crackle with the spark that goat lovers know no other creature quite shares. As for Ada and her cottage, parents reading aloud may well see something familiar in having a tidy, calm home upturned by a mischievous small creature and not wanting to have it any other way.