Wildsmith. Goat's Trail

Goat's Trail is a children's book by Brian Wildsmith, with art by the author, published in 1986. It is available at the Internet Archive.

When the goat hears sounds from the town in the valley, he decides to investigate: DING-DONG. HONK, HONK. VROOM, VROOM. UMP-PA-PA.He hears a new sound, BAA, and meets some sheep; they go with him. New sound: MOO. They free a cow and she comes with them. OINK: they free the pig. HEE-HAW: the donkey pulls them in his cart. It causes a traffic jam. The goat, sheep, cow, and pig all run towards the sound of the band: BOOM-DE-BOOM. TA-RA, TA-RA. UMP-PA-PA, UMP-PA-PA. Chaos: CRASH, SMASH, CLANG, BOOM. The band leader tells them to go away! The goat leads them towards a new sound: A... B... C... D... E... F... G... The children in the school are delighted, but the shepherd, farmer, and swineherd want their animals back. "Follow me!" said the goat. This is the first time the animals don't follow the goat; everyone goes home.

The art and the animal sounds are delightful, but the ending was a disappointment: at first we get a sense that the goat and his friends are freeing the other animals... so do they want to go back home at the end with their humans? If I were to invent a writing activity to go with this book, it would be to come up with a different ending that better integrates all the story's elements.