Bernette Ford and Sam Williams

Billy Goat is excited for his first day of school but gets easily frustrated when he doesn't know how to join in and play properly with the other children. He takes out his frustrations by biting until he learns to use his words instead.

This book is short and sweet, and straight to the point. It doesn't bog children down with too many unnecessary details but focuses on the problem at hand and how to solve it. Billy's biting is problematic as is his feeling of being left out. Ducky helps Billy to find a better way, namely, using clear and bold language, to voice his concerns rather than resorting to aggressive behaviors. The illustrations are gently colored and drawn for a pleasing effect. They are similarly short on unnecessary details; my chief concern with them is that Billy is not that recognizable as a goat, looking more like a bunny with his very long pointed ears. I think this book would be helpful in tandem with other adult intervention for a child who has a problem with biting other children and/or adults out of frustration.… (lisätietoja)

I have mixed feelings about this book. I do not like how the characters are not well developed. This is a short story, but I feel that the author could have developed the characters more. The reader does not get to know much about each character besides their names. On that note, the names of the characters are not creative. The characters are called Piggy, Ducky, Bunny, and Billy Goat. However, I do like the illustrations that the authors provide. The pictures are colorful and catch the reader’s attention. I also like how the pictures look like they are drawn with a crayon. I feel that children would appreciate these drawings because they often use crayons to create drawings of their own. I also like the main idea of the story. The message that the author conveys is that biting and physically harming others is wrong and not the way to make friends. This is an important lesson for young children to learn before entering school.… (lisätietoja)