Shake It Off!

by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Illustrator)

Overview

The whimsical tale of a clever little goat who rises above everything that threatens to keep her down

Meet a sweet, curious little goat, who loves to sing and climb on everything. Some neighbors find her annoying, but nothing can keep her down—even when she gets stuck in a well and it looks like she’s doomed. When everyone has given up on her, the clever goat surprises them all by taking advantage of her precarious predicament to win the day!

Inspired by Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s own experiences with adversity, this playful story about persistence, determination, and thinking outside the box is sure to make readers cheer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525517122
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	06/04/2024
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Vanessa Brantley-Newton (vanessabrantleynewton.com) grew up in a musical family, and her parents taught her how to sing to help overcome her stuttering. Shake is Off is inspired by her experiences, and the story of the little goat in this book was the basis for her TED Talk, “Diversity Designed by Adversity” (tinyurl.com/y6savcqj), which highlighted the importance of knowing your own  worth and rising up when others want to put you down. Vanessa is a beloved storyteller and has illustrated numerous picture books, including New York Times bestsellers The Queen of Kindergarten and The King of Kindergarten (both by Derrick Barnes), Mary Had a Little Glam (by Tammi Sauer), One Love (by Cedella Marley), and The Youngest Marcher (by Cynthia Levinson), as well as the chapter book series Ruby and the Booker Boys (by Derrick Barnes) and Jada Jones (by Kelly Starling Lyons). Some of the picture books she’s written and illustrated include Just Like Me, Becoming Vanessa and Grandma’s Purse. Vanessa lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

03/18/2024

A winsome little white goat with a bright kerchief around her neck, this picture book’s protagonist loves to climb and sing nonstop—digitally colored drawings, rendered in bucolic sunny tones, show joyful notes cascading from her mouth. But the neighbors, portrayed with brown skin, are not charmed when the goat mounts their roof. “That goat is driving me nuts!” they complain, and when the animal falls down a well, they choose not to rescue her, instead filling the well with dirt while she’s still trapped inside. “CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?” bright typography asks as the goat looks straight at readers with incredulous eyes. With a refrain of “Shake it off. Pack it under!” the goat quickly begins to shift the accumulating shovelfuls of dirt beneath her feet, gradually lifting herself to safety. Brantley-Newton (Becoming Vanessa) prefaces this folktale-feeling story of adversity overcome with the assurance that it will end happily, but the casual cruelty and visceral sense of peril may nevertheless alarm some readers, even if the goat is ultimately triumphant and wins the humans’ respect. An author’s note concludes. Ages 3–7. Agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (June)

Publishers Weekly

With brilliantly saturated colors, showy full-bleed illustrations, and evocative depictions of music, this tale looks incredibly inviting, and its ungulate protagonist makes an undeniably appealing first impression. . . . The narration is agreeably conversational, and children will root for Little Goat as she uses traits perceived as faults to save herself. A tale likely to strike a chord with fans of the unconventional.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2024-04-05
After a fall down a well, a little goat saves herself with her tenacity and her song.

With brilliantly saturated colors, showy full-bleed illustrations, and evocative depictions of music, this tale looks incredibly inviting, and its ungulate protagonist makes an undeniably appealing first impression. But wherever readers think this cheerful-looking story might go, they’re probably wrong. Sure, a note promising a happy ending hints that there might be darkness along the way, but most readers will have no clue what they’re in for. Little Goat irritates the neighbors with her enthusiastic climbing and caterwauling. After she falls into a deep well with no clear path for rescue, the neighbors decide to skip the pleasantries and give her a “decent burial.” (“It’s sad, but she was pretty annoying,” they reason.) As they begin shoveling dirt, Little Goat, showcasing surely the most incredulous goat face in kid lit history, persists. She sings to encourage herself to “shake it off. Pack it under” until she rises from the hole; the neighbors now gaze at her in admiration. Readers learn little about the protagonist beyond her quirks; Little Goat is a bit of a one-note character. But the narration is agreeably conversational, and children will root for Little Goat as she uses traits perceived as faults to save herself.

A tale likely to strike a chord with fans of the unconventional. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews