From Publishers Weekly
Who needs billy goats and a troll? The Hassetts (Cat Up a Tree) do just fine without those traditional characters as they infuse the popular folktale with some fresh faces and a zippy sense of fun. When the three silly Grubb sisters sized "small, medium and extra large" miss the bus, they're forced to walk, well, "skippity-skip-skip" to school. Their path to higher learning takes the girls over a bridge under which truant, cranky Ugly-Boy Bobby lurks ("Who's that skipping on my bridge?" he says; the sisters' reply corresponds to their size, " `It is little me,' squeaked the smallest of the three"). Ugly-Boy Bobby tries to grab each Grubb girl's lunch, without luck, until the biggest Grubb makes him a truly lip-smacking offer that will change him forever. The clever collaborators behind this effort clearly express a childlike glee in their eclectic imagery (jelly donuts, a jump rope, a playful pup on each spread) and quick-paced text. Staying true to the genre, the girls' polite tone and resourceful actions win out. And all along, Ugly-Boy Bobby's benign threats and the skewed perspectives from under and atop the bridge keep the humor here afloat. Creamy-hued scenes of a grassy countryside evoke the story's timeless appeal while bright contemporary details (the school bus, backpacks, a lined roadway) offer kids some contemporary points of reference. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-A clever, funny takeoff on the "Three Billy Goats Gruff." Three sisters who miss the bus to school must cross the bridge under which Ugly-Boy Bobby resides, eating bugs and wallowing in the mud. As they cross, "skippity-skip-skip," he demands their jelly donuts, but the first silly girl only has one, the second, just six. It is the third sister who has the most, of course, and the fun is in the solution. There's no violence here; the extra-large girl puckers up her extra-large-sized lips and says, "You may have my dozen jelly-donuts- But first I will plant a dozen mushy kisses on your little-boy nose." That gets him running, all the way to school, and he hasn't missed a day since. The book ends, "Spink! Spank! Spinach! This story is finished." The weird and rollicking illustrations add dimension to the text. Colors are muted, becoming more so as rain falls and the conflict builds amid the flat olive green of the hills and trees; there's playful invention, too, and the spreads have a sense of movement and energy. The characters are squat, almost clownlike, with round faces, beady eyes, and painted-on lips; poor Bobby is truly ugly. This title is grounded in tradition but makes a strong statement all its own.
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MICopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
