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'{{Infobox short story | name = The Pet Goat | title_orig = | translator = | image = [[File:The Pet Goat (book cover).jpg]] | image_caption = ''Reading Mastery II: Storybook 1'' | author = Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine C. Bruner | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United States | language = English | series = | subject = | genre = Children's fiction | publisher =McGraw-Hill | pub_date = 1995 | english_pub_date = | media_type = | pages = | isbn =0-02-686355-3 | oclc= 40413963 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} "'''The Pet Goat'''" (often erroneously called "My Pet Goat") is a [[Children's literature|children's story]] from the book ''Reading Mastery II: Storybook 1'' by Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine C. Bruner. It gained attention when on September 11 2001 U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] was read the story by children at Emma T. Booker school in Sarasota where it was part of a larger reading "lesson". According to Bush's statements after the story was read, regarding the story, there is "more to come". ==Overview== "The Pet Goat" is the story of a girl's pet goat that eats everything in its path. The girl's parents want to get rid of the goat, but she defends it. In the end, the goat becomes a hero when it butts a car thief into submission. The book was written by Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine C. Bruner and is part of the 31-volume Reading Mastery series published by the SRA Macmillan early-childhood education division of [[McGraw-Hill]]. It uses the [[Direct Instruction]] (DI) teaching method, which was originally developed by Engelmann and Wesley C. Becker.<ref name=radosh>{{cite news|last=Radosh|first=Daniel|title=The Pet Goat Approach|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/07/26/040726ta_talk_radosh|newspaper=[[The New Yorker]]|date=July 26, 2004}}</ref> == George W. Bush: 9/11 == {{See also|Timeline for the day of the September 11 attacks}} [[File:George W. Bush being told about second plane hitting WTC.png|thumb|alt=Bush being notified of the incident|[[George W. Bush]] being notified of the incident by [[White House Chief of Staff]] [[Andrew Card]] ]] On the morning of September 11, 2001, some time around 9:10, in front of a sign stating "READING MAKES A COUNTRY GREAT", George Bush appeared to be reading the THE PET GOAT story while also listening to it being recited by a group of schoolchildren at [[Emma E. Booker Elementary School]] in [[Sarasota County, Florida]], just after [[White House Chief of Staff]] [[Andrew Card]] informed him that a second airplane had just hit the [[World Trade Center]]. Bush remained seated for roughly seven minutes and followed along as the children read the book. After spending about 20 minutes total with the children, Bush was scheduled to give a short [[press conference]] at about 9:30 a.m. At the conference inside the school, Bush made his first speech about the attacks and was later taken to a secure location by the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] aboard [[Air Force One]] before returning to the [[White House]] later that evening.<ref>{{cite web | last = Adair | first = Bill | coauthors = Hegarty, Stephen | title = The drama in Sarasota | publisher = St. Petersburg Times | date= 2002-09-08 | url = http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/08/911/The_drama_in_Sarasota.shtml | accessdate = 2007-06-15 }}</ref> Bush's critics, notably [[Michael Moore]] in his film ''[[Fahrenheit 9/11]]'' - in which Moore erroneously named the book ''My Pet Goat'' - have argued that the fact that Bush continued reading the book after being notified that the attack was ongoing shows that he was indecisive.<ref name="radosh"/> A [[9-11 Commission|9/11 Commission]] Staff Report entitled ''Improvising a Homeland Defense'' said: "The President felt he should project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_17.pdf| title=Improvising a Homeland Defense| format=PDF}}, page 22</ref> According to [[Bill Sammon]] in ''Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism from Inside the White House'', Bush's [[White House Press Secretary|Press Secretary]] [[Ari Fleischer]], at some point, was in the back of the classroom holding a pad on which he had written "Don't say anything yet."<ref name=sammon>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VMCaO9P4NzYC&pg=PA85|last=Sammon|first=Bill|title=Fighting Back|year=2002|page=85|publisher=[[Regnery Publishing]]|isbn=978-0-89526-149-6}}</ref> Sammon contends that, although Bush was not wearing his glasses, he was able to read this message, and it went unnoticed by the media. Sammon further states: <blockquote>''Bush wondered whether he should excuse himself and retreat to the holding room, where he might be able to find out what the hell was going on. But what kind of message would that send—the president abruptly getting up and walking out on a bunch of inner-city second-graders at their moment in the national limelight?''<ref name=sammon /></blockquote> [[Osama bin Laden]] made reference to the story in a [[2004 Osama bin Laden video|videotaped speech]] released just prior to the [[United States presidential election, 2004|2004 U.S. presidential election]], stating that Bush's reading of the book had given the hijackers more than enough time to carry out the attacks. His full quote was:<ref name="osama">{{cite news | author=Osama bin Laden | url=http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2004/11/200849163336457223.html | title=Full Transcript of Bin Ladin's Speech | work=Aljazeera.net | publisher=Al Jazeera | date=November 1, 2004 | accessdate=2006-03-20}}</ref></blockquote> :But because it seemed to him that occupying himself by talking to the little girl about the goat and its butting was more important than occupying himself with the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers, we were given three times the period required to execute the operations - all praise is due to Allah. In the years following the incident, faculty and students of the school have come to the defense of Bush's actions. Principal Gwendolyn Tose-Rigell, who died in 2007, stated "I don't think anyone could have handled it better. What would it have served if [Bush] had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?" Asked about the incident for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' shortly after bin Laden's death, the now teenage students in the classroom, Lazaro Dubrocq and Mariah Williams, credited Bush with keeping the classroom calm by finishing the story.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2069582,00.html The Interrupted Reading: The Kids with George W. Bush on 9/11]</ref> All sorts of similar kid fears started running through Mariah Williams' head. "I don't remember the story we were reading — was it about pigs?" says Williams, 16. "But I'll always remember watching his face turn red. He got really serious all of a sudden. But I was clueless. I was just seven. I'm just glad he didn't get up and leave because then I would have been more scared and confused." Chantal Guerrero, 16, agrees: even today she's grateful that Bush regained his composure and stayed with the students until The Pet Goat was finished. "I think the President was trying to keep us from finding out," says Guerrero, "so we all wouldn't freak out." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/05/04/kids-class-bush-911-say-he-was-right-keep-reading-michael-moore-was-w Kids in Class With Bush on 9/11 Say He Was Right to Keep Reading - Michael Moore Was Wrong]</ref> == Notes == {{reflist|2}} ==References== * {{cite book | last = Engelmann | first = Siegfried | coauthors = Elaine C. Bruner | year = 1995 | title = Reading Mastery II: Storybook 1 | edition = Rainbow ed. | publisher = SRA Macmillan/McGraw-Hill | location = Worthington, Ohio | isbn = 0-574-10128-4}} ==External links== *[http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/2002/06/scsb.bush.mov A video of Bush reading "The Pet Goat" (with context)] {{DEFAULTSORT:Pet Goat, The}} [[Category:Children's picture books]] [[Category:Fictional goats]] [[Category:September 11 attacks]]'