The Three Silly Girls Grubb

The Three Silly Girls Grubb

Written and illustrated by: John and Ann Hassett

Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002

32 pages

Fractured Fairytale

     The Three Silly Girls Grubb is a new twist on the old classic folktale The Three Billy Goats Gruff. I previously selected The Three Billy Goats Gruff as my traditional literature book, so I thought it would be a great idea to choose a fractured fairytale based off the same story. This modern version begins with three silly sisters named Grubb. One day, the three girls miss the bus and have to cross a bridge to get to school. Under the bridge lives Ugly-Boy Bobby. One by one, the three Grubbs skip over the bridge. Ugly-Boy Bobby stops each sister and demands her lunch. Do they get toads stuffed in their sneakers? Do they get bats in their hair? Or by some miracle, do they get to keep their lunches? Read this story to find out!

     The illustrations in The Three Silly Girls Grubb are just as silly and fun as the words. The cartoon drawings and the round faces of the characters are especially good for expressing emotions. The picture details show additional traits of the characters that the words in the story cannot and do not portray. Ugly-Boy Bobby is an unruly bully all the way down to his untied shoe strings! Ugly- Boy Bobby's transformation at the end of the story is only made complete by the illustrations. The Hassett's have a fine tuned attention for detail in the images of this book.

     The Three Silly Girls Grubb would be appropriate for PreK-3^rd grade audiences. This modern twist on an old tale has received the Virginia Young Readers Primary Book Award. In a social studies lesson, this book might be a great way to introduce transportation. The three girls in the story miss the school bus in the morning and find themselves in trouble. How did you get to school this morning? What procedures should you take if riding the bus? This can lead to lessons about bus and pedestrian safety. Math concepts such as big, bigger, biggest can easily be explored using the Grubb sisters as examples. Math vocabulary can also be taught when reading The Three Silly Girls Grubb. How many jelly donuts does the biggest Grubb sister have if she has a dozen? A half dozen? In science, the students might create the setting (bridge) using marshmallows, toothpicks, and popsicle sticks as I mentioned for The Three Billy Goats Gruff. I also love the idea of reading both of these stories as a class and comparing and contrasting them using a Venn diagram.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Written and illustrated by: Paul Galdone

Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973

32 pages

Traditional Literature

     The Three Billy Goats Gruff classic is a folktale most of us are familiar with. I remember the first time I read this story as a kid. Once upon a time, there were three Billy Goats, and they were all named Gruff. The Billy Goats had very little grass in the valley, so they decide to go up the hillside where they can eat and get fat, because they were very hungry. To get there, each Billy Goat Gruff must cross a bridge. One by one, they encounter the mean and ugly Troll. Will he let them live? Will he gobble them up? Read this story to find out if the three Billy Goats Gruff make it to the other side! I think this book is an excellent example of traditional literature because it is easy to understand, uses repetition, and can be found in many different versions.

     Galdone’s full-color, pen and ink wash illustrations are wild and woolly. The artist uses thin, multicolored lines , especially with the troll’s hair. Bold perspectives, such as one view of the goat from under the bridge, add suspense and drama. Each illustration is drawn in a doublespread layout, which gives the reader a large overview of the scene and its intended mood. The illustrations are a vital part of the story. The size comparison of the three Billy Goats Gruff, the hideous appearance of the troll, and the lush view of the hillside are all brought to life within the hand-drawn images.

     The Three Billy Goats Gruff would be an appropriate book for PreK-3. This retelling of The Three Billy Goats Gruff has not received any awards, but Paul Galdone has been awarded the Caldecott Honor for other works. I found four activities to go along with the book. For beginning lessons to teach the elements of a story, students will receive a graphic organizer to draw and describe a character from the book. Students will then create the setting (bridge) using marshmallows, toothpicks, and popsicle sticks (science). To work on sequence of events, we will have Reader's Theater, and students will get to reenact the story. Using this book for sequence is also a great opportunity to teach math objectives. Students will tell which Billy Goat Gruff was first, second, third/smallest, middle, biggest. Lastly, everyone will create their own flip book including characters, setting, and sequence of events.  

Hey, You!

Hey, You!

Selected by Paul B. Janeczko

Illustrated by Robert Rayevsky

HarperCollins, 2007

40 pages

Poetry

     As I search the rows of books in my local library for poetry collections, I find a one book titled with red capital letters, "HEY, YOU!" I quickly look behind me to see whose attention the book is trying to grab. But it seems as though I'm the only one here. Is this book talking to me? I had to open it to find out! Hey, You! is an anthology of poetry collected from various authors written on various subjects. The one thing all 30 of these poems have in common, is that they are all written to something. A silly poem written to warn a fork and a heartfelt whisper to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial can now be found within the same 40 pages. I love this book because it is so versatile. Today, do I want to read a poem written to a mailbox? A skyscraper? An octopus? A black hole? An astronaut? There are so many options, I know I can't go wrong!

     Robert Rayevsky's illustrations are the perfect companion for this collection of poems. Rayevsky uses multiple forms of media ranging from cartoons to watercolor paintings and mixed-media collages. Each doublespread layout transforms with each poem. "Whispers to the Wall" has horizontal lines, dark value, and calm colors; "Skyscraper" has vertical lines, light value, and bright colors. Each illustration is fitting to the poem itself so that the artwork is a continuation of the mood set in words. Rayevsky's use of heavy black line, bold colors, and broadly brushed, often semi-abstract backgrounds create a texture to the images as though we might grab an object straight off the page!

     This anthology would be a great asset in an elementary classroom. I believe this set of poems would be very appropriate for 1st-4th grade. Although this book does not have any awards, it does contain pieces from award winning poets. Before beginning a space science unit (or even to conclude a space science unit), it would be great idea to read "To an Astronaut" by Beverly McLoughland. Students could discuss what it would be like to be an astronaut. Would you be lonely? What would you see in space? Would it make you miss and love Earth even more? Students could have class discussions, complete a pros and cons graphic organizer, or do creative writing about the time they went to space. For language arts, I believe "Little Blanco River" by Naomi Shihab Nyeand and "Toad" by Norman MacCaig would be excellent for identifying descriptive and figurative language. What words in "Little Blanco River" are describing touch? Sound? Sight? Taste? Smell? In the poem "Toad," "Stop looking like a purse" is an example of which figurative language device? This lesson might be an independent reading assignment, read aloud, or shared reading. "Whispers to the Wall" by Rebecca Kai Dotlich could easily be used in a social studies lesson. If students were reading about the Vietnam War (or any war), this poem could help relate what students have learned to a soldier's sacrifice for our country. Perhaps if it were close to Veteran's Day, students could write a letter to retired veterans or active military thanking them for their service.