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'The Three Silly Billies'
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[NOV. 9, 2005]
"The Three Silly Billies,"
by Margie Palatini, illustrated by Barry Moser, Simon and Schuster Books for
Young Readers, 2005, 29 pages, ages 4-9
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Review by
Louella Moreland Once in a while a book comes to
the attention of the library staff that makes all of us laugh out loud. "The
Three Silly Billies," by Margie Palatini, is certainly in that category! Ms.
Palatini has updated the story of the "Three Billy Goats Gruff" into a
hilarious party of all our favorite fairy tale characters.
The three silly billy goats are out for a drive in the sun. At a very
deep river they come to a small wooden bridge under new management, run by a
troll named Duane, where they must pay a toll to cross. You guessed it! The
goats do not have enough money to get to the other side. Billy Bo, one of
the three billy goats, comes up with the idea of a car pool, so the goats
pull a rubber wading pool from the trunk of their jalopy, jump in and the
fun begins.
The Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack, from "Jack and the
Beanstalk," all end up in the same predicament, with not enough money to
cross. However, once their money is "pooled," the travelers have a means to
thwart the nasty troll and are on their way. The story does not quite end
there, however, for the troll has another visitor coming to cross his
bridge. This one may make his day even more of a headache!
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With Barry Moser's expressive and detailed illustrations, we see
our favorite fairy tale characters in a truly new light. Each
character is easily recognizable by even young readers, but each has
a hilarious twist. Sporting T-shirts, sunglasses, hard hats and
skateboards, these "up-to-date" pictures will have you chuckling
away. Set against a stark white background, the form, color,
texture, perspective and light source are fantastic!
Taking the story by itself, with no background in the fairy tales
from which the characters have come, "The Three Silly Billies" is a
delightful tale. However, read with the knowledge of the stories
from which the characters were introduced, this story becomes a
spoof of jokes and ridiculous situations. If young ones are
unfamiliar with the original stories, this would be a great time to
check out those stories as well. Folk tales and fairy tales that
have been handed down through the generations are so important for
young people to know. They are the background knowledge for many
contemporary stories and literature activities.
Both young and old will delight in reading this book again and
again! To check out this book and other fairy tales with a twist,
come visit us at the Lincoln Public Library, 725 Pekin St.
[Louella Moreland, youth services librarian,
Lincoln Public
Library District] |
