Barnett, Mac (retold by). Three Billy Goats Gruff, The. Jon Klassen, Illus. Scholastic/Orchard, 11/2022. [40]pp. Picture Book. GRADES Preschool – 2. $18.99. 978-1-338-67384-5. OUTSTANDING.
Storytelling dynamic duo Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen team up for a retelling of this classic tale with a version that stays close to traditional tellings with a few new twists. Barnett’s writing is minimalistic and humorous, and the story opens with a bridge and a hungry troll who speaks of culinary delights and gross bodily functions like belly button goo and ear wax, sometimes in rhyme. One big twist is goat number three’s enormous size. The well-paced ending is gentler than traditional versions and leaves the troll’s fate to the reader’s imagination. As the troll floats down a series of waterfalls, the images increase in size to the point of squeezing the text down the side of the page. Klassen’s digitally edited watercolor-and-ink illustrations, with his distinctive muted palette and geometric shapes, accompany the text beautifully. Readers will enjoy other mysterious touches like the skull and single bone (not cross-bones!) that hang from the bridge on every page, but disappear on one spread. This retelling is a unique addition to the Billy Goats canon, and is an exciting start to a planned fairy tale collection.
Cindy Gullikson — Joaquin Miller School, Oakland Unified School District