by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 25, 2010

There's a forest, a village, and some very cute drawings. But it seems the peaceful rural setting includes a pesky (and funny-looking) goat. The goat gobbles the farmer's vegetables, and butts pigs with his horn. And when the farmer's wife hangs laundry out to dry, sometimes the goat will even eat it!

Unfortunately, this book was written in 1972, which means there's some dated details about the way the farmer treats his wife. He complains that she's downstairs when she should be upstairs…and complains sitting when she should be standing. The story's point is the farmer treats his goat better than his wife. But it's a little disturbing, in this day and age, to see the husband bossing around his wife.

And the wife's solution is even more bizarre. She decides she'll pretend to be a goat - in the hopes of teaching her husband a lesson. The next time he comes home and asks what's for dinner, she says "B-A-A-A-A." And then she "B-A-A-A-A-ED while washing. B-A-A-A-A-ED while sweeping. B-A-A-A-A-ED while spinning. B-A-A-A-A-ED while baking…." That night, when her husband goes to bed, he dreams that his wife is becoming a goat!

Harold Berson wrote and illustrated "Balarin's Goat," and his drawings are clever and funny. He uses an ink-and-wash drawing style - creating a detailed, cartoon-like sketch, and then filling in a few simple colors. He uses just four colors throughout the book - yellow, orange, green, and grey. But they're enough to make everything colorful and lively - green and yellow for the garden, grey for the goat, and green and yellow for the clothes worn by the farmer's wife.

Berson's drawings give a light and playful tone to his story - but it still wanders into some strange territory. "In his dream other men went to church with their well-dressed wives, Berson writes. "Balarin went to church with his well-dressed goat." And at the end of the book, Berson is woken up by a kiss from his wife. Except unfortunately, it's his goat - choosing the worst possible moment to lick Balarin's face. And when Balarin runs to complain to his wife, she just says "B-A-A-A-A."

This story was written nearly 40 years ago - and I'm not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, Balarin sets a very bad example. But to the book's credit, Balarin's wife does insist on being treated better, and she does successfully convey that message to her husband.

It's just that she does it by acting like a goat!

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