THE THREE SILLY GIRLS GRUBB

Who needs billy goats and a troll? The Hassetts (Cat Up a Tree) do just fine without those traditional characters as they infuse the popular folktale with some fresh faces and a zippy sense of fun. When the three silly Grubb sisters—sized "small, medium and extra large"—miss the bus, they're forced to walk, well, "skippity-skip-skip" to school. Their path to higher learning takes the girls over a bridge under which truant, cranky Ugly-Boy Bobby lurks ("Who's that skipping on my bridge?" he says; the sisters' reply corresponds to their size, " 'It is little me,' squeaked the smallest of the three"). Ugly-Boy Bobby tries to grab each Grubb girl's lunch, without luck, until the biggest Grubb makes him a truly lip-smacking offer that will change him forever. The clever collaborators behind this effort clearly express a childlike glee in their eclectic imagery (jelly donuts, a jump rope, a playful pup on each spread) and quick-paced text. Staying true to the genre, the girls' polite tone and resourceful actions win out. And all along, Ugly-Boy Bobby's benign threats and the skewed perspectives from under and atop the bridge keep the humor here afloat. Creamy-hued scenes of a grassy countryside evoke the story's timeless appeal while bright contemporary details (the school bus, backpacks, a lined roadway) offer kids some contemporary points of reference. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)