From Publishers Weekly
Finch (The Little Red Hen and the Ear of Wheat) and Arenson (One, Two, Skip a Few!) play up this familiar tale's lean but highly satisfying narrative trajectory. With the immediacy and economy of a skilled storyteller, Finch includes just enough sound effects and role-playing opportunities to bring the action to life without weighing down its progress. The troll, for instance, croons a catchy ditty: "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." Arenson embellishes her vibrant full-spread collages with stenciling and flourishes, but there's an admirable sense of restraint at work here, in perfect harmony with Finch's voice. With their blocky bodies, bright, mischievous eyes and stylish coats of yellow, pink or aqua, the goats make for a trio of spunky heroes. Their nemesis is impressively grimy, thanks to Arenson's use of fibery brown papers, but he also sports fetching purple toenails. The artist crops her collages to underscore the drama: one scene is composed like an overhead shot, looking down on the littlest goat crossing the bridge as the troll menaces him from underneath. These appealing billy goats put up with no guff. Ages 6-8.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1AA familiar tale, simply told. The straightforward style and repetition of phrases in the text are so accessible that very young listeners will soon be chanting along. Carpenter's cheery billy goats and their country setting look a little bit like the frolicking sheep and rolling hills featured in Jez Alborough's The Grass Is Always Greener (Dial, 1987; o.p.) while the troll is appropriately ugly but not too scary. The colorful cartoons mirror the story's action rather than extend or comment on it. This title won't replace Glen Round's appealingly scruffy and slightly scarier version (Holiday, 1993) nor is it a match for Janet Stevens's more elaborate and amusingly updated retelling (Harcourt, 1990). It will come in handy, however, as an additional copy of a perennially popular folktale. (One minor quibble about the format: the final double-page spread occurs on the endpages, which may affect some library's processing routines.)ALisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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