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  • The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Jerry Pinkney
  • Deborah Stevenson
Pinkney, Jerry, ad. The Three Billy Goats Gruff; ad. and illus. by Jerry Pinkney. Little, 2017 34p ISBN 978-0-316-34157-8 $17.99         R* 3-5 yrs

You know the drill—goats, "trip-trap," troll, etc.—and you know Jerry Pinkney's folktale-adaptation prowess (The Lion and the Mouse, BCCB 11/09, etc.). It's [End Page 421] therefore no surprise that this is a gorgeously landscaped and entertaining title that brings the goats to thickly furred life as they determinedly make their way across the bridge to the verdant grazing lands. The adaptation keeps the text conventionally spare but twists the story's ending just a little by letting the troll survive his toss into the river and learn his lesson after a run-in with a truly spectacular giant fish. While the tale might have been more satisfying if the fish had actually gobbled the troll, it's still a splendid retelling and showcase of the familiar tale. In a change from his recent oversized square book design, Pinkney goes for a long horizontal opening here, getting maximum left-to-right drama from the bridge sweeping across the river valley and, in one foldout page, from the biggest goat's battering across the spread. The goats are a good-looking family, all rich chestnut with black accents and some impressive horns, while the troll is a festival of grotesquerie complete with a crow familiar. This will be a sterling introduction to a classic for young kids—the human kind. An excellent and informative note explains Pinkney's adaptation choices, and the closing endpaper gives a peek at the new goat-friendly troll.

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