The Three Billy Goats Gruff Essay

Three Billy Goats Gruff
Growing up, I have read and heard stories that were written with variations, especially those where the ending is different than the traditional story. One might ask why an author chooses to do this. Many reasons exist as to why an author wants to re-write the story in his or her own words. Perhaps writing an unusual version of the story more than once can provide a new idea or make a book more suspenseful. In “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” the historical background of the piece plays a role and provides a tale with the possibility of many different twists and turns. Comparing and contrasting three versions of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” shows how this piece can be used effectively with an elementary class.
The story

In the story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" written and illustrated by Ellen Appleby, when the Big Billy-Goat Gruff gets on the bridge, the great ugly Troll comes out and says, “Now I’m Coming to gobble you up" (“Appleby 20”). Then the Big Billy-Goat says, “Well, come along! I’ve got two spears, and I’ll poke your eyeballs out at your ears. I’ve got besides two great, flat stones, and I’ll crush you to bits, body, and bones” (“Appleby 21”). In the book The Three Billy Goats Gruff written by Paul Galdone, the Big Billy Goat Gruff says, “Well, come along! I”ve got two horns and four hard hooves. See what you can do!” (“22”). “The mean ugly Troll climbs up the bridge and Billy Goat Gruff head butts him with his horns and tramples him with his hooves, tossing him over the bridge into the stream” (“Galdone 23,24”). Another telling of the "Three Billy Goats Gruff" says, “The troll rushed at Big Billy Goat Gruff who bent his head and bravely charged at the Troll, catching him up in his horns and tossing him into the steam below.” “The Troll disappeared under the rushing water, never to be seen again” (“Three Billy Goats Gruff – World Stories”

Initially I would read the Ellen Appleby version before sharing a couple of other versions of the story to compare them to each other. Also, I would make a graph or Venn diagram that compares what is alike and what is different about the stories. To make this lesson fun and more exciting, I would create a hands-on activity by breaking the class into groups of two to three so that the students could work cooperatively to write and illustrate their own versions of the tale. To end the lesson, I would have each group present their stories orally and