Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

In this revision of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," three young goat brothers, fiddle-playing Reynaldo, guitar-picking Orlando, and accordion-squeezing Augustín, are determined to cross the Rio Grande to get to a fiesta in Mexico. Trouble is, in order to cross the bridge, you have to get by Chupacabra the goat-sucker, who lives beneath it. As in the traditional tale, the first two brothers promise a fatter, more delicious brother to follow, but here they set the story's theme by playing the monster a tune before they escape. The eldest brother, stopped by Chupacabra, also starts up a melody on his instrument, but it turns out that his magic accordion compels the monster to dance as long as it's playing. Chupacabra thus dances himself to death, and Augustín is able to safely join his brothers across the river in Mexico. At the center of this story's success is Chupacabra, a gigantic furry blue monster perched on tiny legs with huge eyes, horns on his back, and a splendidly dour expression; as each brother plays for him, he dances back and forth across the bridge, flapping and waving his arms about. The clean layout and focused compositions are well suited to the simple yet humorous text, and the three brothers are craftily distinguished from one another. Pair this with Kimmel's The Runaway Tortilla (BCCB 12/00) for a Latin-inspired set of traditional tales, or use it for a preschool program, complete with lots and lots of dancing. An adapter's note and glossary of Spanish words are included.