Wednesday, October 08, 2008

If You Liked MOLLY THE PONY, You’ll Love THE GOAT LADY!

Following the incredible success of MOLLY THE PONY through this blog, it's time to add Molly's friend, THE GOAT LADY by Jane Bregoli.

Here’s what THE GOAT LADY is about:

Who’s that funny-looking lady in old clothes down at the end of the street? She walks with a limp and her yard is filled with goats.

On a street of beautiful new homes with perfect lawns, the old farmhouse looks out of place. The children can only wonder what goes on there. But the goats fascinate them.

One of the mothers is an artist, and she sees something beautiful in the goats and the old woman.

When the artist fills the town hall with paintings of the goats and their owner, the new residents in town get an eyeful. Children and adults learn to see the beauty in what they once thought was just a rundown house and a weird old woman in their neighborhood.

They learn that their houses are built on the fields of the old farm, and that the “goat lady” once owned it all. They learn she sold the fields to pay her late husband’s medical bills. And that she donates healthful goat milk to people who are ill, like she is. And they find out that the young baby goats go to poor families overseas, thanks to the Heifer Project, a longstanding anti-poverty program that supplies farm animals to poor families.

And the neighbors learn to start acting like neighbors, the children learn a lot about goats, and the goat lady finds out she has a lot more friends that she thought she did.

WHY PURCHASE THE GOAT LADY?

Teach children that old people have value and something to teach that they can value. That the way someone dresses or the shape their house is in are not yardsticks to their character or value. That animals make a great difference to poor people in other countries. And that people who wear old clothes and live in shabby houses may turn out to be generous and help people in need.

And THE GOAT LADY won the ASPCA's Henry Bergh Award for best children's book about animals!

BOOK DETAILS for THE GOAT LADY

Size: 9.25”w x 10.25” h, 32 pages
Hardcover, laminated cover.
Full color illustrations and paintings throughout.
Written for children in grades 3-6, much loved by many adult readers
Very similar to MOLLY THE PONY in size, shape, length.
And it is a TRUE story!
Cost: $17 publisher's list price

And don't forget Molly!

Update on Molly: MOLLY THE PONY is in its third printing!

Molly (the real pony) continues to do well at Ms Kaye’s farm down in Louisiana. Her fame through the book has not gone to her head at all. She had a tough time when Hurricane Gustave hit, but her barn is being rebuilt and she keeps limping along to schools and hospitals to share her story and her message of hope.

We need to raise enough money (or find a sponsor) for a truck and trailer so Molly can go to places beyond New Orleans, though she has plenty to do right there!

Thank you to everyone who has purchased MOLLY THE PONY and donated to her fund.