I had this book when I was a child; I was born in 1975. My parents lived in Israel in 1973, and it may have been an Israeli publication – but not necessarily. It was in English.
Two kids (who are, I think, brother and sister) want to take their goat to some State-fair equivalent. They get a ride from a friendly trucker. However, the truck breaks down in the Negev desert. The kids are very worried about their goat, who has no water. Turns out the truck contains a load of cucumbers, and, as the trucker explains, cucumbers are over 70% water. They feed some cucumbers to their goat, get back on the road, and make it to the fair. The goat wins a prize. All is right with the universe.
Aside from the part where small children are hitchhiking across Israel with a goat and this isn’t considered odd, I mean.
It had some pictures - there was at least one drawing of the goat happily chomping cucumbers.
Sound familiar?