Skip to main content

CHARACTER COUNTS: The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Image
By


The Three Billy Goats Gruff 
By Jerry Pinkney
Little, Brown and Company, 2017. Picture Book

This is a retelling of the classic tale of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.” Similar to every other version, there is a green valley across a river. The three billy goats decide that they would like to cross to where the green grass is to eat. Only, the way to get to the other side is to cross a bridge where a troll lives. This troll likes to eat animals. And like every other version the littlest billy goat tricks the troll into waiting for the next billy goat. Then the middle billy goat tricks the troll into waiting for the next billy goat. And of course the last billy goat is big enough to take care of the troll.

The one thing that is different about this story (other than the brilliant illustrations that Pinkney created) is that the troll isn’t just butted away from the story—readers will see him meet a similar fate when a giant fish tries to eat him while in the river. However, with the troll’s similar near fate, the troll has a change of heart (which readers can see on the final pages and last endpapers). In the Artist’s Note Pinkney explains why he decided to make this choice to improve the troll's character. All in all this is another great addition to the classic stories retold genre. And as an added bonus Pinkney dedicates the book to all his “fellow Capricorns”, which is a nice and humorous touch. Well done, Pinkney! Well done.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

By Anonymous
There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

By Anonymous
J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more