Synopsis
Four falsehoods send a goat named Plato to Olympia, site of the original Olympic games, to run in a nonexistent goat race. A winning collection of characters, including a jocular pig, a flamboyant rooster, and a mysterious eagle, descend like an oracle to tell Plato the simple truth. Pub: 2/98.
Publishers Weekly
A member of the pound-the-moral-into-the-reader-with-a-mallet school of children's literature, this modern-day fable seeks to teach its audience the value of honesty. Through a series of lies, some white, some not, a goat named Plato is fooled into believing that he's the fastest goat "in all the Peloponnese" (the southern region of Greece), and eagerly agrees when a jealous barnyard rival suggests he enter the great goat race at Olympia (a race that doesn't exist). On the way to his destination, Plato is fleeced of his favorite possessiona bell he wears round his neckby a rooster, and arrives at the ruins of the Sacred Grove of Olympia wearing the goofy objects palmed off on him in exchange for his bell (an old straw hat and a dish-towel scarf). Ridiculed by tourists, a humiliated Plato is finally set straight by a wise eagle and returns home to chide his friends and vow never to tell a lie himself. If the approach is heavy-handed, Talley's storytelling itself is competent. Maeno's watercolors, framed in brightly stylized patterns incorporating Grecian architectural elements, provide a much-needed shot of color, but are unable to hoist this turkey out of its self-righteous mire. Stick with Aesop. Ages 5-10. (Feb.) FYI: A companion videocassette and activity guide are available.