Details
Synopsis
A retelling of the "Three Billy Goats Gruff", now set on a big city's mean streets. The kids (baby goats) long to cross the road to enter a grassy lot, but the big mean rat who rules the block won't let anyone pass. Can the kids outsmart the rat and make it to the other side? Cut-paper images illustrate the story., This retelling of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" is set in the heart of a city where an enormous rat tries to keep three goats from crossing the street.
| Size | | Height: | 10.3 in | | Width: | 8.5 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 12.8 oz |
Industry Reviews
This visually appealing volume revisits and revises The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The ``kids'' of the title are young, city-dwelling goats named Big, Middle and Little Cool; they have decided to abandon their empty lot for greener urban pastures. Unfortunately, a huge sewer rat lives between them and their destination, and as they trot past its lair, the rat threatens to eat each of them for dinner. The goats, of course, persevere and triumph. The text is somewhat banal, but Emberley (City Sounds; Jungle Sounds) generously compensates with inventive art. Eye-catching collages of textured paper in neutral colors evoke a rundown urban environment pebbly gray stock represents cement; thin strips criss-cross to form a lattice fence. Neatly snipped corrugated cardboard suggests the kids' horns, fibrous material their coats and cottony tufts their beards. Big Cool nibbles a real shaft of grain, and Middle Cool sports ``jingly silver bracelets.'' Crisp, craftsy and, sure, cool. Ages 3-8. (Apr.)
Bernstein
PreS-Gr 2 A hip, inner-city version of Three Billy Goats Gruff, in which rumors of an ugly sewer rat prevent three kids from crossing the street, where the grass in a vacant lot really is greener and more abundant. Finally, desperate for a better grazing area, the trio muster their courage and take the big step, thus enabling them to confront and banish the bully. Large, crisp collages made from paper, corrugated cardboard, and natural objects bring the goats to vibrant life and create the perfect backdrops for the action. And the goats Big, ``both bossy and saucy''; Middle, vain and demure; and Little, adoring and endearing burst from the pages. Little, clad in his red hightop sneakers, is particularly appealing, while the rodent looks appropriately malicious. The text is witty, the illustrations whimsical, and the combination utterly charming. Three cheers for Three Cool Kids. Trev Jones, School Library Journal
Lopate
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
All rights reserved.
