THE THREE BILLY GOATS’ STUFF
by Bob Hartman and illustrated by Jacqueline East
Troll loves to hide under the playground equipment at The Traditional Academy for Small Furry Animals and the Odd Mythical Creature and jump out at his fellow students to shake them down: “[R]each in your pocket / And give me your stuff!” He thinks the skinny new kid is going to be an easy mark, but the little goat puts him off; his older brother has a bigger briefcase, of course. And so it goes, until the biggest brother gives Troll a delicious comeuppance. East’s watercolors depict a big green bully with tusky underbite against a generic schoolyard background. The fun’s in the text, which will make for a good fractured–fairy-tale read-aloud in many an elementary classroom. (Picture book. 6-10)