Set in Mali, this picture book with brilliantly coloured illustrations by Christopher Corr tells how Old Al Haji Amadu is persuaded by his three wives to get rid of the family's five goggle-eyed goats because they cause daily chaos with their boisterous behaviour. When his seven children's protests are ignored they follow him to Mopti market and pop up out of the crowd to plead for their goats reprieve. When his wives admit that a goat-free life is dull, they abandon the planned sale and return en masse to Timbuktu, where the goats spring a final surprise. With illustrations as mad-cap as the goats, and a text full of alliteration and invitations to count, this is an eccentric and very funny read.