On 11 September 2001, George Bush recited to a reading class at Emma
E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida a chapter from a
children's book allegedly titled "My Pet Goat".

What is the correct title for this book and what is its bibliographic
record (ie. ISBN or author and publisher)?

Hello.

First all, here's the Emma Booker School video:
http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/2002/06/scsb.bush.mov

A careful review of the video indicates that the story is called "The
Pet Goat."  Also, "The Pet Goat" is not a self-contained storybook. 
It's a story in a reading textbook.

Before the students start reading the story, the teacher states, "Open
your book up to Lesson 60 on page 153."

Clearly, "The Pet Goat" is Lesson 60 on page 153 of a school reading textbook.


So what's the textbook?

In all likelihood, it's "Reading Mastery," which is part of the
"Direct Instruction" series published by SRA/McGraw Hill.


How do we know this?

Well, first of all, the teacher gives us some clues.  Before starting
the goat story, the teacher leads the children through some sort of
reading exercise.  She repeatedly uses the phrases "get ready" and
"read it the fast way."  This suggested to me that she was using some
sort of teaching method that involved those two phrases.  I did a
Google search:

reading "get ready" "the fast way"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&c2coff=1&q=reading+%22get+ready+%22+%22the+fast+way%22&btnG=Search

Sure enough, the results of that search confirm that the phrases are
indeed part of a method/series, specifically something called "Direct
Instruction / Reading Mastery."

The "Direct Instruction / Reading Mastery" series is published by
SRA/McGraw-Hill. See SRAonline.com
http://www.sraonline.com/index.php/home/curriculumsolutions/di/rmrainbow/rmrelong/869

Now take a look at this photo of President Bush holding the book:
http://s89194761.onlinehome.us/

Bush's book features a wide white horizontal bar across the top. Below
that there's a thin purple bar.  The remaining 2/3rds of the book
cover features a colorful scene.

I did an eBay search for Reading Mastery, and the covers of the books
are identical to the book that President Bush holds in the video.
See the books pictured on this eBay listing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2228&item=6908377741&rd=1

----------------
search strategy:
bush "emma e booker" video
reading "get ready" "the fast way"
"reading mastery"

I hope this helps.  If you have any questions, please let me know via
the "request clarification" feature.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 28 Jun 2004 20:24 PDT

Just to add a little more here...

After looking at the various books on eBay, I'd say that Bush was
probably reading Reading Mastery, II, Storybook 1/2.  The purple
stripe is specific to those books. If you need any more details, let
me know.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 28 Jun 2004 20:57 PDT

By the way, the authors of the Reading Mastery II Storybooks are
Siegfried  Engelmann and Elaine Bruner.  See Abebooks.com:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?tn=storybook&ph=2&imageField.y=0&imageField.x=0&cm_re=HP*Search+Box*Form&an=bruner&sts=t

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 29 Jun 2004 09:57 PDT

Just wanted to let you know that I called a dealer who has the book.

She verified that my answer above is correct.

"The Pet Goat" appears on page 153 of

Reading Mastery II, Storybook 1,
by Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine Bruner
ISBN 0574101284
Publisher SRA/MacMillan/Mcgraw Hill 

Other ISBNs associated with various printings this book are:
0026863383 
0026863553

very thorough, very quick, very pleased

Hi tyrapper,

I haven't been able to locate the information you have requested. But
just to let you know, others are looking for this same information:

http://petro.typepad.com/ledgeofliberty/2004/06/the_pet_goat_a_.html

Best of luck,
Rainbow

Juggler,

This is an unbelievable answer.  Great investigative work.  I'm sure
hundreds of people have wondered about this question and you've given
about the best answer possible apart from asking the teacher involved
in the reading.  Great work Juggler!

Bowler-ga

tyrapper:
Thank you for the tip.  One more note, the ISBNs 0574101284 and
0026863553 above are correct.

0026863383 is actually for a different book in the same series. I got
that from a used book site, but it appears to have been an error of
their part.  I'm sorry about that.


bowler:
Thank you for the kind words.

regards,
juggler

Thank you for researching what the children were reading. The quality
of the compressed video footage does not allow us to determine the
title of the stand-alone copy President Bush was reading along with.
This may have been a different book entirely, it may have been a
teacher's edition or it could have been a special copy for his use.
The copy may be more telling as "my pet goat" may have more symantic
and symbolic significance than "the pet goat" in establishing a
foundation to various theories about subversion of this President. You
will also note in the video which has been edited that the President
announces he has been in contact with various high level leaders about
the attacks and then states that all federal resources will go to
assist the victims and their families. He then states "I have ordered
a full scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who
committed those acts." This is in curious contrast to his stalling and
legal maneuvering with regard to the congressional AND law enforcement
investigations.

Thank you again for your research, it does raise more questions. If
I'm able to obtain a higher quality clip that shows the title of the
book in his hand I will post a link here.

terrigena:

As indicated above, the book that contains "The Pet Goat" (the story
the children were reading) is "Reading Mastery II, Storybook 1."

That's clearly the same book that Bush was holding.

Compare the photo here...
http://s89194761.onlinehome.us/
With the photo "Reading Mastery II, Storybook 1" on eBay:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?tn=storybook&ph=2&imageField.y=0&imageField.x=0&cm_re=HP*Search+Box*Form&an=bruner&sts=t

As I mentioned above, Bush's book features a wide white horizontal bar
across the top. Below that there's a thin purple bar.  The remaining
2/3rds of the book
cover features a colorful scene.  Also note the unique spine.  There's
a vertical indentation that runs the length of the spine (about 1/2
inch from the edge of the book).

Regards,
juggler

That eBay link should have been:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2228&item=6908377741&rd=1

Check out this page for a little more info:

http://www.ledgeofliberty.com/2004/06/mystery_of_the_.html

Very well researched answer.  Worthy of the praise you've received.

However, readers should be careful when viewing the Emma Booker School
video cited by juggler-ga.  This is a carefully edited historical
retrospective.  It does not appear to be the complete raw video taken
in the classroom on the morning of September 11.

It has been widely reported that seven minutes elapsed between the
moment when Andrew Card advised the president of the second plane
striking the WTC, and the moment when the president stood up from his
chair and left the room.  This video shows only a part of that seven
minute period.  It would be more interesting, and of more historical
value, to see the raw video of the entire period, as well as whatever
was documented before and after.