The Goat Lady

Lisa Arsenault is a high-school English teacher who is involved in
several ministry campaigns to increase literacy.

When the author and her family move into the neighbourhood, they hear
complaints from the neighbours about the rundown farmhouse on the corner
and the eccentric old lady who keeps goats in it. The paint is peeling,
the doors hang crookedly from their hinges, the fence is broken, and the
goats, which are mountain goats, literally climb in and out of the
windows.

The author, a child at the time and always curious, is fascinated by
the goats, the other animals in the house, and their owner, Noelie
Houle. Noelie, who was born in 1899, has been raising goats for their
milk for decades. Her gentle ways encourage young Jane to interact with
the animals and learn to help care for them. Eventually, Jane asks her
mother, who is an artist, to paint the “goat lady,” and Mrs. Bregoli
ends up painting enough portraits and pictures of the goats for an
exhibition in the town hall. After seeing the paintings, the townspeople
become more accepting of Noelie, and she then becomes an integral part
of the community.

The illustrations in this gentle tale reflect the kindliness of the
goat lady. Soft, indistinct outlines are rendered by blurring the edges
of people and objects in the foreground and painting backgrounds as
haze. Noelie’s warm-hearted personality shines through in the numerous
portraits.

Noelie became a philanthropist in her quiet way: since 1944, she’s
given goat kids to the Heifer Project International, a non-profit
organization that has helped millions of families in 125 countries
develop self-reliance through the donation of livestock and training.
Recommended.