PLEASE NOTE! This review is for the version that is illustrated by Dorothee Duntze. Everyone knows this Hans Christian Andersen story about the bedraggled princess who shows up looking for shelter on a stormy night. She might be a good match for the prince who's been searching for a "real" princess so the queen mother runs a little test...the rest is the subject of fairy tales! This version is simply told and beautifully illustrated. The pictures, executed in soft pastel colors, have a quirky Art Deco feel to them that I thoroughly enjoyed. The gowns of all the ladies in the book are done in a collage style and are covered in intricate patterns and designs. Lovely...the real thing!

In the beautiful land of Upper-Crestalia King Adolph, Queen Frieda, & their dear son Prince Ralph live & the queen is quite content until her son one day bursts into her chamber & declares that he wishes to marry.

The queen does not like this idea at all so she hatches a plan to prevent her son marrying & she makes sure that the few princesses who do audition for Prince Ralph's wife all fail.

Mad with grief, Prince Ralph tears off in his expensive car down to Lower-Crestalia & when smoke starts billowing out of his hood, poor Ralph is stranded.

To his great surprise & relief, an auto-mechanic pulls up next to him & a dirty young woman in overalls carrying a tool box, jumps out. They get to talking, & the Prince is smitten! Her name is Opal, & she is the princess of Lower-Crestalia.

On the spot Prince Ralph proposes & when her prince charming confesses that his mother has idiotic tasks in store for her, Opal only becomes more determined.

Opal passes the tests with flying colors & that's when the queen insists there be a third test which is the one from which the title of this hilarious book is taken.

Will Princess Opal pass the final test? Will the queen's crafty plan succeed? Read this enchanting book & find out!

This book passed the toughest test our household has to offer---my two sons asked for it to be read several times in one day. The pictures are vivid and clear and the story is told without fancy added details---just the facts of the fairy tale! I must admit I didn't find it that overly gripping, but I think that's because this isn't the most fascinating of fairy tales---but something about it appeals to kids---the bears? The 3 sizes of everything? Who knows? Whatever it is, it's a hit with my boys!

I find Paul Galdone's illustrations a bit garish but my son clearly prefers this style over more subtle ones - like Margot Zemach or Jan Brett. I had to really look for a traditional version with the emphasis on the extremes, too hot, too cold, just right - so many modern versions drop this original prose. This had exactly what I was looking for.

It's great to have books to sing along to, and this is one of the best. The illustrations are great, the lyrics are fun, and kids of all ages enjoy the song. A great version of the song done by kids is on the CD Treblemakers ...

I just finished re-reading this book after having read it when I was a child. It is one of William Steele's classic frontier stories. The dialog is rich, the action is fast paced, the characters are fairly well-constructed, and there is even a moral to this tale. Trapped by raiding Indians without much water in a small fort with his family and a few other frontier families, Chad's father stands up for the Logan family, a poor woman with a young son about Chad's age, and two smaller children. The woman's husband, called Traitor by the others who are sure that he is in cahoots with the Indians. The other settlers want to force the Logan family outside the fort but Chad's father, Raburn, won't allow it. At first Chad is repelled by his father's standing up for this family of a traitor, but through the book he learns that it's not fair to judge or blame someone for what another person does - even if it's that person's father. Chad learns to follow his father's advice given near the begging of the book and resolves to "think things through" before forming an opinion. Young readers might be forewarned that this book was written at a time when Indians were portrayed as enemies to the early settlers of the American wilderness. Violence and death are portrayed in the book, as well as, heroism and bravery. For older readers who read these books as youngsters, it's a very good read.

Rhyming patterns help with spelling. A student can see the endings of words are the same and follow the patterns for other unfamiliar words. This makes decoding and spelling unknown words easier: Henny, Penny, Lenny, etc. fox, box, lox, pox. Follow-up with any Dr.Seuss book to reinforce rhyming and spelling.

As a child I enjoyed reading this book and now I have rediscovered it as a good book to read to my preschool children. The story is entertaining even hilarious at times and has its share of interesting characters. The basic story revolves around an eccentric pig and its love affair with a dolphin sculpture. The book is suitable for listeners in the 3 to 7 years old age range and readers in the 6 to 10 years old range depending on their ability. Although this book has not gotten a lot of press lately, it is definitely worth picking up.

Those luminous yellow eyes watching me, that's what I remember most clearly about this fascinating dark little tale. I checked out The King of the Cats from the public library when I was eight years old and staying with my grandmother. I've never forgotten it. An old man walking home through the louisiana bayou night sees a ghostly funeral procession of cats comes home to his tarpaper shack and tells his old wife about it. Watch their big tomcat's eyes as he tells the story. In these days of the blatant scary fiction of R.L Stine and Goosebumps The King of the Cats is subtle, beautiful, and foreboding in a sort of mesmerizing way that is truly uncommon in children's literature. I don't know if it is, but is has the feel of an old oral folk tale, worn smooth to its most basic elements by years of telling. At eight, I loved it, at twenty four, I still love it.

The Horn Book Magazine calls this 1967 book "a fresh variant of the cumulative folk-tale pattern." Cluck-cluck scurries about trying to get water to save her disobedient chick, Little Tuppen, who is coughing on a big seed.

The spring agrees to give her water, if she'll bring a cup. The tree will give her a cup, if she finds someone to shake its branches, and so on. Finally the dwarfs agree to help out without asking anything in return, and Cluck-cluck returns to each one who agreed to help until she finally brings water to Little Tuppen, who "drank water and stopped coughing. He ran chirping and scratching among the leaves as if nothing had happened."

If you're looking for a tale where a disobedient child gets punished, this isn't it. But you're looking for a light Scandinavian nursery tale that portrays a parent's undying love for her child, regardless of his behavior, then this one does the job. This book is a good one for preschool and kindergarten. Children will love the repetitive, cumulative words and Paul Galdone's playful four-color pen and ink illustrations.

Miss Pickerill is off on another adventure and has to leave her beloved cow behind. This simple book is good especially for 2nd - 4th graders. It has good vocabulary and educational value, but is also humorous. A very cute book. I loved it as a child and still think it is great.

I grew up with this story - what happened?! Somewhere in this grossly underproduced version they forgot that even in a kids story you need talented actors. Kids know when someone sounds wooden and unskilled - and you can't pawn something as poorly done as this off on them. They're smarter than that! I could've done a better job in my garage. "Under the bridge lived a troll..." Come on!

My boys love this author's version of the Three Little Pigs, so I bought a few more of his fairy tales for them. They also liked this one, but not as much. That might just be because it's not quite as interesting a tale! But the illustrations are well done---especially the troll, who is truly scary looking! This is a good book for a reader who likes to do voices, as you really have to use dramatic effect to show how the biggest billy goat has a loud and intimidating voice while the little one has a tiny and timid voice!

We have checked out a number of versions of The Three Billy Goats Gruff from the Library when my son was 4. This is the version he liked the most. It is very simple (as one reviewer uses as a reason to reject it) but for some ages, that simplicity is what makes it a favorite.