Beatrice's Goat

This realistic fiction picture book is the story of a young Ugandan girl's dream of becoming a school. She is able to do so after her family is given an income-producing goat from the Heifer project.

This book has beautiful illustrations! When I used this book with my class we had a great discussion about which would be better: a goat or cash?

This book tells the story of Beatrice and how a goat provided to her made all the difference in her life. After being given a goat to raise, Beatrice's family can now get the nourishment from the milk and sell the milk for money. With this extra money, Beatrice is then able to make enough to go to

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school, something she has always longed to do.
Genre: Informational
Critique: This book is a good example of informational because it tells about the difference an animal can make in the life of a child in poverty. It provides information about the Heifer Project and the impact it has on children like Beatrice.
Media: acrylic

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Genre Critique: This book is a good example of historical fiction as the story is true and based off of real people and a real situation that happened in Uganda. The story has realistic events (heifer project sending over a goat for the family) and the details throughout

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the book (vocab and illustrations) really tie the setting into the story as well.
Review Critique: I enjoyed reading this book as it told a positive story of the benefits of helping others. It made me want to find out more about the Heifer project, how it works, who receives benefits, how one can help, etc.
Media: Colored pencil, sketching, gouache

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A young African girl can not go to school because she doesn't have enough money. Her mom has her do chores around the house and take care of the little ones. One day, her family gets a goat named Mugisa. She gets ready for Mugisa, and takes care of it . The family sold the goat milk and eventually

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made enough money for Beatrice to go to school. This story is a true story of a girl who now lives in America. It is important to help people help themselves. This reminds me of the charity work I do in Indonesia.

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A great piece for small children to visually understand the concept behind Heifer International.

This book was all the rage with elementary teachers when it first came out. In the story, an aid organization donates a goat to a poor African family, which leads to prosperity and a better life for all. It would be wonderful if development were really as simple as a few inexpensive gifts from

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donors and a willingness on the part of the poor to work hard and be thrifty. But this book oversimplifies people's real problems and suffering to the point of inanity. Beautiful illustrations though. Maybe cover up the text?

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I was not sure if I’d like this but I did. While a thinly veiled commercial for Heifer International this book is still an enjoyable account of a little girls life.