THE THREE SILLY GIRLS GRUBB

Those three Billy goats have been transformed into young girls and the troll morphed into a mean boy in this retelling of the classic folktale. When the three Grubb sisters, sized small, medium, and extra large, miss the bus one day, they must walk to school . . . over a bridge where Ugly-Boy Bobby hides out every day. He never goes to school or ties his shoes, he eats bugs and worms, and he often throws things. As each skipping Grubb passes over, he demands to know who is crossing. They sweetly answer, also telling him what they will learn in school that day—to count to ten on their toes, to spell “bumblebee’s bottom,” and to look at tiny things under a microscope. Bobby threatens to eat the girls’ lunches, but the small and medium-sized Grubbs each tell him to wait for the next bigger sister—she has more jelly donuts with her. Now, the extra large offers quite nicely to share, but the condition she sets is not acceptable to Ugly-Boy Bobby, who runs off to school and never misses a day again. The Hassetts (Cat Up a Tree, 1998, etc.) have created a gentler tale with this retelling—no one is threatened with being eaten, the girls and the “troll” are both people with whom children can identify, and the meanie gets rehabilitated. Soft colors, animals, and plants abound in the cartoon illustrations and the round faces of the characters are especially good for expressing emotions. Snip, snap, snout, a good turnabout. (Picture book. 4-8)