The Three Billy Goats Gruff/Just a Friendly Old Troll

by Alvin Granowsky

For use in schools and libraries only.

48 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

Reviews

[Cheryl]

I absolutely adore these Another Point of View stories by Granowsky. I think the theme incredibly important, and the author of this series does it so well.

This is one of my favorite stories, in the original. I had no idea what the troll's point of view could be. But sure enough, just as in real life, tragic misunderstandings can develop just because of simple misjudgements of word choice.

Because you may not have access to this, or want to read it as archived on OpenLibrary.org, I'll tell you that the troll could have said "I'd love to have you *over* for dinner" instead of leaving out the 'over.' I bet even youngsters reading this will see that solution.

Just remember the main thrust of the main theme - most people do mean well, and so don't jump to the conclusion that they're awful until you've had an effective conversation with them.

[Carole]

Dr. Granowsky has written a series of books exploring fairy tales that give both sides of the story. In this case it is told from the goats' point of view on one side, then flip the book over and get the story from the troll's point of view.

It's an interesting concept for presenting traditional fairy tales.

[Michelle King]

The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a very old book. I remember reading this book in elementary school and really enjoying it. This book has very colorful illustrations. Great addition to the class library.

[Angela]

I love the alternate story telling!