The Three Billy Goats Gruff
By Regan McMahon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Great art and fun foodie details add to familiar folktale.
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What's the Story?
This version of THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF covers the traditional storyline -- the sibling goats tricking the troll who lives under the bridge to avoid getting eaten by him and his being butted by the biggest goat brother and falling into a waterfall -- and adds an amusing rundown of the many ways the troll likes to eat goat.
Is It Any Good?
This fresh, stylized version of the classic folktale adds sly humor and great art to tell the familiar story. Here, the troll looks like a big rat, and he's a bit menacing with his fork and spoon at the ready, but not too scary. His lines of dialogue rhyme -- "Who seeks to reach the grassy ridge? Who dares to walk across my bridge?" But the rest of the text does not. The silliest innovation -- and the most fun for adults reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff aloud -- is the goat listing his favorite goat dishes, as in this passage:
"I love goat! Let me count the ways!/
Goat Benedict with hollandaise./
Goat jerky, jerk goat, curried goat./
Goat gravy in a silver boat./
A goat flambé with candied yams./
A goat clambake, with goat, not clams!
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what makes this version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff fresh. How is it different from other versions you've read? How is it the same?
How are the goats able to escape being eaten by the troll? What did they know about the troll that helped them fool him?
Book Details
- Author: Mac Barnett
- Illustrator: Jon Klassen
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Horses and Farm Animals
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Orchard Books
- Publication date: October 18, 2022
- Number of pages: 48
- Available on: Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: November 6, 2022
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