Beatrice’s Goat
By Page McBrier
Illustrated by Lori Lohstoeter
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
This beloved true story takes place in a village in Uganda, where a poor and uneducated but hardworking family is given a goat. The eldest daughter, Beatrice, has the responsibility of caring for the goat, named Mugisa (which means “luck”). Although she is skeptical at first, Beatrice begins to realize the benefits of owning a goat, which provides healthy and delicious milk for her family and brings in money from selling the extra milk to the people of the village. Although Beatrice longs to attend school like some of the other children in her village, she realizes her priority is to help her mother and siblings at home. Over time, however, Beatrice earns enough money for her family that her mother is able to afford to send her to school—Beatrice’s one wish! Brilliantly illustrated, and filled with many positive examples of living off the land, working hard and saving money for worthwhile things, this story is a must-read for children and gives an excellent view of living situations in another culture very different from our own.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2024
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