Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/01/2025 *Starred Review* Ada, an accomplished young woman, dreams of living alone in a house in the country, where she will grow beautiful red apples and wear a soft, gray coat to keep warm. She works hard, repairing her home and making improvements, but she enjoys her simple, orderly life. When a goat gets caught in her wire fence, she helps to free it and heal its wounds. But the goat becomes a nuisance, eating Ada’s apples, chewing on her warm, gray coat, and even climbing onto the roof of her home. Ada tells the goat to leave, but soon she misses her troublemaking companion, who returns with a surprise for Ada, readers, and children listening to her story. In the end, Ada's life is neither as simple nor as orderly as she had expected, but she is content. Curving lines define the hilly land where Ada lives as well as the pleasing drawings, created with graphite and watercolors, of Ada, her friendly goat, her apple trees, and her home. The narrative is well-suited to reading aloud, and children will be pleased to discover that the illustrations alone reveal the most unexpected twist in the story. A charming picture book. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.