Wednesday, March 30, 2011

REVIEW: "The Bloated Goat" by Manley Peterson


Oh, no! Bloated Goat has little black Xs where his eyes should be! Now it's up to his best friend, Cocky Doodle, and Cocky's grandma, Granny Hammy, to take Bloated Goat home to be buried. Along the way, Bloated Goat becomes the desired target of a cast of zany characters, including a lovesick skunk, a family of rats, and wild and crazy mushrooms. Will Cocky ever get his friend to the right place, or will Bloated Goat permanently end up on someone else's dance card?

"Bloated Goat" is, at times, witty and clever, but some adults may find its wackiness to be over the top. The narrator sometimes talks to the readers, and refers to upcoming chapters. The obvious is often stated by the various characters, in a very amusing way. The short length of the story is perfectly fitting to this particular genre; any longer and the silliness would likely become annoying.

The characters are fun in their absurdity. A wolf, married to a vegetarian, can't help but gnaw on his delicious mother-in-law. A skunk, crazy for love, is looking for the perfect husband- the smellier the better. Fun characters and zany conversation when you least expect it adds to the cleverness of the story. A few pictures along the way would really add a lot to the story, but there is something to be said for imagining the happenings on your own. Overall, this is would be a good bet for the middle-grade age, where the sillier the conversation and the nastier the smelly imagery, the better the fun to be had in a book!

4 /5 stars

Available at Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

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