Goat likes his paddock in the country. His tiny shed is painted the same pink as the house on the hill. He spends his time dancing, counting
cars and making up names for the people inside them.
The little girl named Aroha sometimes waves from the house and even comes to whisper secrets in his ear, but Goat wishes for more company. If only more people walked past, stopping to say hello. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t see another goat for miles either, so that’s another wish he must put aside.
One day, while watching the clouds skidding across the sky, Goat hears a noise. It isn’t a happy noise, but the discovery of what is making the noise makes Goat very happy indeed.
It’s a small hedgehog. Hedgehog is timid and frightened of everything, but with Goat’s kindness and immense pleasure at having someone to talk to, Hedgehog calms and falls asleep to a story.
Despite Goat being a day animal and Hedgehog being a night animal (nocturnal), their friendships grows as Hedgehog trusts Goat that nothing ever happens in his paddock – especially nothing scary.
The new unlikely friends discuss clouds, make up stories, and watch Aroha’s comings and goings. Soon there is another creature nearby. Horse is deaf and no longer wanted by a riding stable. Aroha isn’t the only one to welcome her to the paddocks.
They ‘horse around’ and ‘act the goat’, squabble, bicker and laugh as good friends do. Hedgehog was right to trust Goat in that nothing really happens in his paddock. But when danger does arrive, her friends Goat and Horse are ready to rescue her!
A sweet collection of tales, that can sit alongside animal friendship classics like Winnie the Pooh, or Skunk & Badger and NZ’s own Snake and Lizard. Making the most of what their paddock has to offer, three animals become close friends with the simplest things in life.
They grumble and squabble, laugh and dance and talk about all and nothing as good friends do. When this friendship is tested, their bond holds true and a rescue made.
Illustrations by Kimberly Andrews begin every tale and are peppered through the stories. Pukeko, Kaka, Goat and his friends and many more scenes of NZ farm life are alive on the page. My favourite is of Horse dancing!
Broken up into bite sized tales for the reader, each one is headed with a well-known saying eg. Home is where the heart is. I can imagine copies of Little Tales of Hedgehog and Goat staying on bookshelves for years to come as just like its gorgeous characters and setting on a NZ farm – it’s timeless.
Author – Paula Green
Illustrator – Kimberly Andrews
Age – 6+
Look Inside here
Find a Hedgehog and Goat Activity here
(2022, Penguin Random House, Animals, Friendship, Adventure, Courage, Humour, Goat, Horse, Hedgehog, New Zealand, Rural, Country, Aotearoa, Farm Life, Simple Things, Rain, Flood, Storm, Kaka, Cute, Adorable, Funny, Sweet)