Description
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.
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.
Author Bio
Heidi Aubrey is a Canadian author-illustrator who divides her time between Vancouver Island in British Columbia and the woods just outside Portland, Oregon. Her debut picture book, Ada and the Goat (Neal Porter Books), is the 2026 Margaret Wise Brown Prize Honor Book.
When Heidi’s not dreaming up stories, she's exploring the mountain foothills or working on forest restoration projects, accompanied by a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Leo.
She holds an illustration degree from ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles. She also studied figurative sculpture and classical draftsmanship at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle.
Review Quotes
The narrative is well-suited to reading aloud, and children will be pleased to discover that the illustrations alone reveal the most unexpected twist in the story. A charming picture book.
—Booklist (starred review)
Graphite and watercolor illustrations with gentle washes evoke the work of Amy Schwartz or Marla Frazee, with cozy details abounding in the idyllic rural setting. . . .To quote the last line, “so very, very good.”
—Kirkus Reviews
—Booklist (starred review)
Graphite and watercolor illustrations with gentle washes evoke the work of Amy Schwartz or Marla Frazee, with cozy details abounding in the idyllic rural setting. . . .To quote the last line, “so very, very good.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Biographical note
Heidi Aubrey lives among the trees just outside Portland, Oregon, homesteading on six acres with her husband and a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Leo. She holds an illustration degree from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and studied classical draftsmanship and sculpture at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle. When she's not dreaming up stories, she's exploring the mountain foothills or working on woodland restoration projects.
