Customer Reviews

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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?).

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 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.

This book has brought great joy to my daughters life. She is 2 1/2 years old and she just loves this story. I highly recomend this book to any parent who enjoys seeing their children envolved with a book.

I chose The Threee Billy Goats Gruff by Stephen Carpenter because it was my Mom's favorite story book growing up. The day I brought it home she sat down and read it to me and my sister. My favorite characters are the three billy goats because there funny and can play tricks on the troll. The troll was foolish to let the small and middle size billy goats go across the bridge, and then have to fight with the big billy goat. He ended up falling off the bridge and all three billy goats enjoyed the grass on the other side of the bridge. Now they will be able to come and go whenever they want. There is a lesson to be learned in this book. Don't let someone influence you by saying that something is bigger and better if you wait for awhile. Overall the book is alot of fun to read. I would definitely share this story with my children.

Our little grandson (3) loves this book. We could read it to him multiple times per day. His other grandmother, said it was her favorite book when she was little. A must buy!

PS - I agree: How lame that Amazon has mixed together reviews for all these various versions of "Three Billy Goats Gruff." They are all so different and all by different illustrators and authors!

Anyway, this is a comment about Marcia Brown's 1957 version, which I found to be incredibly gory. Rather than merely knock the troll off the bridge, this billy goat gruff graphically dismembers him, poking out his eyes and reducing him to "bits, body and bones." Yuck! There are other, mellower version out there... This one's not a favorite. (ReadThatAgain!)

My 21 month old son loves the story of the Billy Goats Gruff, at first we used to make up the story from what we remembered about it, but now with this book he can follow along and point at the troll hiding under the bridge. It gets may requests. The pictures are great and the story flows quickly enough to keep his interest. I like the ending. Snip Snap Snout, this reviews wrote out.

My family loves this story, we all get involved when this one is read (dad plays the part of the troll). My two boys (6 and 3) have enjoyed this book for years and still ask for us to read it to them (of course my six year old is now reading it to his little brother). Have purchased it for friends/family, highly recommend this fun book.

I bought this book on an impulse, simply based on the brightly colored illustrations and a brief refrain that that appears when you look inside the book. I couldn't be more delighted with this purchase. The book is a wonderful addition to my fairy tale library and my kindergarten kids absolutely LOVE listening to and participating in the retelling of the story, especially the rhyming refrain..... "I'm a troll from a deep dark hole - my belly's getting thinner. I need to eat and goat's a treat - so I'll have you for my dinner!".