The Billy Goats Gruff by Jane Bingham

The Billy Goats Gruff Reviews

• 
  Nicola

  Miss 2 and I like to explore different books at the library and try to get different ones out every week or so. This was one of the ones that she chose (probably because she really liked the Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone).
  
  This is a longer retelling with a lot of expansion to the tale. Useful for primary school kids as an early reader but we didn't particularly like it; we'll stick to the Galdone version.
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  Lucy Reid-Pudalik

  Tonight I read this book with my 7 year old son and asked him to review it. He said it was an amazing book and he loved how the biggest goat was brave enough to help all the animals in the forest and save them from the troll.
• 
  Steph Cherry

  This is a cute retelling of the Norwegian folktale. My girls loved it.
• 
  Krisz

  A longer version of the folk tale. I like the Ladybird edition much more, with the beautiful pictures.
• 
  Madison Gervais

  Annotation:
  
  The Billy Goats Gruff is a small chapter book about three goat brothers who have run out of food and have grown tired of their current surroundings. So the brothers decide they want to go to across the bridge to new land where no one else lives, they would soon find out why no one else lived there. The troll guarded the bridge and allowed no one to pass, until that is the three brothers crossed and finally defeated the troll. Once the troll was gone everyone else crossed the bridge and found more food and they were so proud of the brothers for getting rid of the troll.
  
  The illustrations complemented the story very well and helped enhance the reader’s perceptions of what was happening in the story.
  
  Response:
  
  I awarded The Billy Goats Gruff four stars because I thought it was very well written. I really liked the concept of making this book into a chapter book as well. I think it will be a good introductory for the concept of a chapter book.
  I also like the meaning behind this book that you have to stand up for yourself and to not let anyone pick on people just because they are smaller. It reminds me of how my older brother is always there for me to help me with my problems and to stand up for me when I need him to.
  
  Classroom Connections:
  
  I think this book would be a great introduction to the concept of chapter books. It is an easy read and can be used as a read allowed for kindergarten. A good lesson I found to use for this book is to address the concept of bullies and how to deal with them, (see
  http://www.helium.com/items/2353300-e...). This website suggests that the students could break up into groups and discuss how they would go about dealing with the bully. This will teach the students the proper way to handle any problems they will have with bullies in the future. This is a great way to take a story and teach kids a life lesson they will always use.
  
  Reading Complexity:
  
  The Lexile according to lexile.com is 410L. Appropriate for read aloud K+ and for independent reading by the beginning of 2nd grade.
  
• 
  Hannah Delaughter

  This book is about three goats that are tired of living in the same area and at the same time have fun out of food. The three goats decide to look for new land and found some land that was across a bridge that looks like no one else has lived on before. When they tried crossing the bridge, they come across a troll that is guarding the bridge and will not let them pass. That is why no one has lived on the other side of the bridge, until the three goats defeated the troll and crossed the bridge. Once the other people saw that they had crossed the bridge, they all followed and found more food for everyone. The pictures in this book did help tell the story and also entertained me while I was reading the story.
  I gave this book five stars because this is such a classic book and I remember being told part of this story when I was little, but never read the book until recently. The book has lived up to my memories. This reminds me of my best friend and I. We have been through a couple of incidents like the troll and the goats and we have always been there for each other.
  I can connect this to my classroom by reading this out loud to the students as they read along with me in their own book. After we are done reading the book I would tell them to go back to their seats and have them take out their journal and write about what as if they were one of the goats and write about what kind of life they would want/ think they will have on the other side of the bridge before they crossed it. This will help them start thinking creatively and have them to start thinking about something before it actually happens.
  The Lexile for this book is 410L and the guided reading is K. I would expect my students to be able to start reading this by second grade by themselves, but I think that any age would enjoy this book if they are interested in traditional fairy tales.
• 
  Maxzine Rossler

  The Bill Goats Gruff is a traditional fantasy about three Billy goats looking to leave the farm and find food over at the Juicy Fields. The Billy goats are hesitant because the bridge they have to cross is guarded by a big green warty troll. They have to come together to try and defeat the green troll in order to get to Juicy Fields. The illustrations help put the story into perspective, and guide the reader throughout the book in a humorous way.
  
  This book made me laugh, and throughout their adventure the oldest brother kept saying that they needed to stick together. This book was showing some type of commonsense in the oldest brother. Also, towards the end of the book when they have to face their fears the oldest brother proves to have his younger brothers’ backs. Looking into content this portrays the message that at the end of the day family or some one will always be there for you. Which goes to show the kids that no matter what happens the people who are important in life will always be there for you.
  
  This book would be a good book for beginning readers to read in a literature circle. It is short, but it is also a chapter book and has an easy plot to grasp. You can break the book down, and have a discussion after reading it about what are some things you do for other people. You could also read it to the class, and have a class discussion about what are some things people have done for you and what are some things that you do for other people. You could even have them write or draw something in regards to that depending on the grade level.
  
  The lexile score from this book is a 410L and would be appropriate for a read aloud for kindergarten and up, and should be reading independently by the middle of second grade.
  
• 
  Michelle & Michael

  J 398.2 BIN-[FOL]