Elderly neighbor considers pet goats her kids

The children find out that the woman calls herself Noelie. And she calls the goats "her kids." A friendship develops among Noelie, the kids and the "kids": Darcey, Dottie, Elaine, June and Vincent.

On their many visits to the farmhouse, Noelie teaches the children that goats eat corn and hay — never garbage or tin cans. She shows the children how to milk the goats, how to keep them warm on cold days and, most exciting, how to bottle-feed the babies.

Noelie talks about her first goat, named Girl, whose milk and friendliness helped her overcome an illness. Noelie also explains that she donates baby goats to people in underdeveloped countries.

The children ask their mother to paint Noelie and her goats. She paints one, then goes on to paint many more. When the beautiful paintings are shown in the Town Hall, Noelie's grumpy neighbors become friendly and offer to help her care for her farm and her beloved "kids."

Book club ideas

Meet Pan, Roberta, Blizzard, Eve, Bonnie, Bonita, Clover and the other goats at Muriel's Ranch in the Los Angeles Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive in Griffith Park. You'll also see potbellied pigs, a miniature donkey, a miniature horse, two alpacas and four sheep. For zoo information, call (323) 644-4200 or go to http://www.lazoo.org .

Draw book club members and their pets or talk about animals that have become part of your family.

Read about the Heifer Project, the organization that delivered Noelie's goats to needy people in "Beatrice's Goat" by Page McBrier.

You might also enjoy "Lunch at the Zoo: What Zoo Animals Eat and Why" by Joyce Altman; "Life on a Goat Farm" by Judy Wolfman and "The Book of the Goat" by Jack Denton Scott.

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This is one in a series of stories on book clubs for kids. Look for more ideas every Sunday in Kids' Reading Room. Send your book club ideas to Jo Perry at BookClubFun@aol.com. Click here to read more Book Club columns.