Product Description

The three billy goats gruff are hungry for the sweet green grass on the other side of the stream. To get there, they must pass the big hairy troll who lives underneath the bridge and wants to eat them for dinner. Will the billy goats reach the safe side before the hungry troll makes them his next meal? Brought playfully to life by the rich collage illustrations of Roberta Arenson, this lively retelling of a much loved fable will delight children as they cheer on three sprightly billy goats who refuse to let anything stand in their way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #888312 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Enlisting a clean design and a straightforward approach, this comely retelling revivifies an old, familiar tale. All the original elements remain intact, down to the significant "TRIT-TROT, TRIT-TROT," as each goat passes over the troll-inhabited wooden bridge. Arnold's goat-heroes are as natural and winsome as his troll-nemesis is taciturn and suspicious. Well-honed page-turns augmented by charming character progressions make this version particularly accessible. The inherent satisfaction of the trickster theme is heightened by cool-hued watercolors, which are given a sculptural feel through use of meticulous cross-hatching. The Rocky Mountain setting is conveyed in its pristine beauty, endowing the book with the timelessness befitting a classic. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-The latest in a flock of retellings, featuring a lengthy text, pastoral illustrations, and a watered-down ending. Arnold's version reads nicely, as he fleshes out the story with descriptive detail. The Gruffs live in a "lovely green valley nestled high in the mountains," where there "were no wolves or coyotes or mountain lions to disturb them." The troll, with his "growly scowly voice," has teeth "huge and crooked" and "smelled rather badly of the muck and mire in which he lived." The watercolor, pencil, and ink illustrations depict an appealing wilderness landscape complete with distant mountains, crisp evergreens, and assorted wildlife. Subtle ink lines add texture to the slightly washed out green and brown tones. With his long carrot nose and pointed ears, the troll comes across as being more mischievous than menacing. After the climactic scene, he is sent spinning through another double-page spread, and sinks heavily into the river. Where are the dramatic grinding hooves and tearing horns of earlier versions? With its sophisticated language and added details, this edition might appeal to older readers. However, if you like your folktales undiluted, stick with retellings by Paul Galdone (Clarion, 1979), Marcia Brown (Harcourt, 1991), and Glen Rounds (Holiday, 1993), the pick of this year's litter.
Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 3-6. Set in a "lovely green valley nestled high in the [Rocky] mountains," this version of a familar story has a decidedly American locale and includes some nice touches--from the troll's "growly, scowly voice" to the "extremely deep, and extremely cold river, where the troll sank like a stone and was never heard from again." The watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations are clear and distinct enough to make the book useful for reading aloud to small groups, and the slightly subdued palette emphasizes the verdant green of the grassy pastures, which are, after all, the heart of the tale. This should be a popular retelling, even in libraries already having several different versions on the shelf. Janice Del Negro

Customer Reviews

The Stephen Carpenter version is outstanding for little ones
Many of the reviews listed here are for other versions of this story. I have checked out all seven versions of Three Billy Goats Grufff available from our library just to see which was best for a three year old. This one by Stephen Carpenter has large, clever, uncluttered pictures and tells the story in simple language. The troll is not too scary and, all in all, this one seems just right for little ones. Another version, the elaborately illustrated one by Janet Stevens, uses a colorful, imaginative vocabulary and would have more appeal to adults and older children (5 or 6 and up?).

Which 3BBG version? This one--without question, hands down
Here's the one, parents and grandparents. Stephen Carpenter's son Tad had loved this story so much that Carpenter decided to write his own version--and am I glad he did! This is one of my four-year-old's daily requests, and my 13-year-old will still scoop it up for a chuckle from time to time. What makes this particular edition so great?
1. Big, fun illustrations. The goats are different sizes/colors. The troll is green, knobby, and hairy.
2. A troll who is just scary enough for a little menace (the littlest goat gruff appears once in his shadow) but is still kind of cute, and very comical when he takes that famous drink.
3. The cadence and style of the writing is just perfect for doing different voices for the troll and three goats, just like my mom used to do. The first time she tried it with this book, she remarked, "This is a really good version."
4. The encounter between the biggest billy goat and the troll is simply thrilling--this is one tough, unintimidated billy goat!
4. The last page is fantastic. The goats are grazing in a veritable Eden with smiles of satisfaction, and the troll is hilariously peeking out of the water down next to the bridge.
5. The old-fashioned ending--"snip snap snout, this tale's told out."
This family of seven could not love this book any more. I would not change a single line of the illustrations or a single syllable of the text. A beaut.

The scary version
"The Three Billy Goats Gruff 1957" by P.C. Asbjornsen and J.E. Moe (the Grimm Brothers of Norway) and illustrated by Marcia Brown is what I call the scary version of this Norwegian folk tale. My library (I am a school librarian) has three other versions, all pretty and not scary at all. What good is a fairy tale if it doesn't make the little ones hug their neighbors in delicious fright.

Least you think I am a troll myself, I would like to remind you of that word the French gave us--frisson--that delicious scary feeling when we're safe. Thus, when I show the various book covers of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and ask which version they want me to read: the nice one, the pretty one, or the scary one, the children all hug each other and say without doubt--"the SCARY one!!"

I might add that it is Marcia Brown's illustrations (yes, THAT Marcia Brown) that make this version the scary one. She smears on color, uses lots of black and reddish-browns, uses bold gashes of colors. Just the coloring technique lends itself toward that frisson. The introduction of the troll is a mudpit of fierce, scary browns and blacks with a hint of red in those browns--a pit of anger and hatred. The troll's huge eyes, long nose, and jagged, broken teeth add to the frisson.

Listen to the word pattern: "On the way up was a bridge over a river they had to cross, and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll with eyes as big as saucers and a nose as long as a poker."

When the troll comes out, the viewer sees him in his full scariness because he is right there "in our face," large as life. Then he says that scary line: "Who's that tripping over my bridge?" You know, any reader worth her salt is going to read it in a fierce voice, and adds: "Now, I'm coming to gobble you up!"

Truly, this is some scary artwork, almost beyond frisson. "'It's I! the BIG BILLY GOAT GRUFF!' said the billy goat, who had an ugly hoarse voice of his own." And you should see THIS scary drawing of the BIG goat! When the third Billy Goat Gruff does battle with the bad ol' troll, body parts fly. Really! In a children's book! That's why some people disapprove of this version.

It's a matter of taste. I always let students who seem fearful to go into the other room until I finish reading this version--the scary one! Afterword, everyone wants to check out this book. Oh, the other childen? If any went into the other room, they always return to hear the story.

Books are magic.