The Three Billy Goats Gruff

December 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 2-These simplified retellings suffer from uninspired writing and poor copyediting and include the gorier endings. In Three Little Pigs, instead of all of the pigs ending up in the brick house, the wolf eats the first two, and, in Chicken Little, the animals are never seen again. Additionally, each story ends with a "beyond the story," which includes a moral, e.g., jumping to conclusions (Chicken Little), hard work (Three Little Pigs), prudence (Billy Goats Gruff), and being helpful (Red Hen). The most egregious and repeated error is in Three Little Pigs. Every time the wolf says his refrain, it reads "The I'll huff and I'll puff..." instead of "Then I'll huff...." The artwork, while done by different illustrators, is all sweet and cartoonish. Pick up extras of the classic editions and pass on these subpar offerings.-Amy Lilien-Harper, Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT

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