Three Billy Goats Gruff

Jason Hawkins and Rachel Kessler

Three Billy Goats Gruff by Jason Hawkins and Rachel Kessler published by Jackson Fish Market Once there were three brother goats that were always hungry. They were known as the billy goats Gruff because they hardly had time for polite conversation, they were so busy stuffing themselves. They ate and ate, but never felt full. They ate up every blade of grass on the farm where they lived. The farmer saw the hungry look in their strange goat eyes and led them to some holly bushes. The three billy goats Gruff quickly gobbled up the holly bushes -- berries, branches and pointy leaves all. Then they began eating the fence next to the gobbled holly bushes. The farmer waved his rake at the goats, but they chomped up the rake. So he tied a rope around their three scrawny necks and tied them to the apple tree. Then the tired farmer left his chores to go inside for some dinner. Patting his satisfied tummy, the farmer nearly dropped his pipe when he walked out on his porch after dinner. For the three goats, the rope, and the entire apple tree were all gone! The hungry billy goats ate and ate their way through fields and abandoned barns. Still, their bellies grumbled for more, more. The youngest billy goat even tried nibbling on a large rock. They ate tin cans, rusting forgotten sickles, even worn out boots. Yet they were still hungry. All this eating brought them to a river. A deep, swift river. Fortunately a bridge spanned the churning water. On the other side, the three billy goats Gruff glimpsed an emerald green pasture. The littlest billy goat Gruff set out across the bridge. His little hooves hammered trip-trop, trip-trop, waking the troll who lived under the bridge. “Who’s that walking on my bridge?” hollered the horrible troll. “Oh, its just me, the littlest billy goat Gruff,” the littlest billy goat Gruff stammered bravely. “Come here, so that I can eat you up, for I am very hungry,” bellowed the troll, licking his slobbery lips. “No thank you,” said the littlest billy goat politely. “I am so hungry and little, just skin and bones. Why don’t you let me pass, and eat my older brother instead, for he is crossing right behind me, and much bigger, and juicier.” “Oh, all right, you may pass, but hurry, for I am so very hungry!” And the terrible troll let the littlest billy goat Gruff cross over to the green pasture. Soon after, along came his older brother, the middle billy goat Gruff. TRIP-TROP, TRIP-TROP clomped the middle billy goat Gruff’s medium-sized hooves. “Who’s that walking on my bridge?” thundered the tremendous troll. “It is I, the middle billy goat Gruff,” replied the goat, his knobby knees shivering in terror. “Come here so that I can eat you up!” And the troll swung his long powerful arms, grabbing for the goat. “Well, that sounds nice, for you, but why don’t you let me pass and wait to eat my older, bigger brother, the biggest billy goat Gruff? He is following me, but he is slower because he is so fat and delicious,” the goat reasoned. “All right,” sighed the troll, a gust of rotten breath shaking the bridge. “You may pass. But hurry, for I am so very, very hungry!” sobbed the ravenous troll. And the middle billy goat Gruff trip-tropped quite snappily across to the green pasture. Along came the biggest billy goat Gruff. TRIP-TROP, TRIP-TROP clattered his large hooves. “Who’s that walking on my bridge?” blasted the belligerent troll. “It is I, the biggest billy goat Gruff,” snapped the biggest billy goat. For he was indeed the biggest billy goat anyone had seen in that land. His shaggy beard hung down to his hooves, which were big as a mule’s. “Come here, so that I may eat you up!” the troll screamed. “Why don’t you come up here and get me?” retorted the biggest billy goat. The troll was shocked. How dare a goat tell him what to do! Oh, but he was hungry. And he could tell by the way the bridge creaked and groaned that the biggest billy goat was indeed fat and delicious. Without another thought, the troll leapt up on the bridge. His atrocious arms grasping, his menacing mouth gobbling, and his noodle-like nose dangling, he lunged at the biggest billy goat Gruff. And there he froze, turned instantly to stone in the sunlight. The biggest billy goat Gruff lowered his head and ran at the statue, CRE-ACK! sending the troll flying WHEE! off the bridge and SPLASH! into the cold, swirling river below. Trip-trop, trip-trop clattered the biggest billy goat Gruff across the bridge to the green grassy pasture. The littlest billy goat Gruff and the middle billy goat gruff greeted their older brother with a chorus of chewing. He joined them, and there the three billy goats Gruff still chomp today. Snip-snap-snout, This tail’s told out.