Gruff Justice_Sample

Published by Barrington Stoke An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Westerhill Road, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, G64 2QT www.barringtonstoke.co.uk HarperCollinsPublishers Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper, Dublin 1, DO1 C9W8, Ireland First published in 2025 Text © 2025 Ross Montgomery Illustrations © 2025 Marisa Morea Cover design © 2025 HarperCollinsPublishers Limited The moral right of Ross Montgomery and Marisa Morea to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 ISBN 978-1-80090-252-7 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in whole or in any part in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher and copyright owners This book is in a super‑readable format for young readers beginning their independent reading journey A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt. Ltd.

For Henry

Contents 1

Big Goat Gruff

1

2 Hot Cross Farmer

9

3 Good Goat, Bad Goat

23

4 Trip Trap

45

5 The Cake Thief

64

Chapter 1

Big Goat Gruff

It was another sunny day on the farm.

The pig was rolling in mud, the horse was trotting in the field, the cat was sleeping on the barn roof …

And, of course, Big Goat Gruff was eating.

2

Gruff was always hungry. He was the hungriest animal on the farm!

He ate everything he could find. He munched bits of old sack. He chewed tractor tyres and nibbled paint off fence posts.

Once, he even chewed his way through the farmer’s front door and ate the pillows on the farmer’s bed before the farmer chased him out.

4

You name it, Gruff would eat it!

Today was no different. Gruff had finished his breakfast – a pile of old newspapers – and was nibbling at some trees for a snack.

“Delicious!” said Gruff as he chewed the bark off the tree trunk. “Maybe after this I’ll have some flowers for my pudding.”

5

“Slow down, Gruff,” said Billie the Kid, who was Gruff’s little sister. “You’ll give yourself a tummy‑ache!”

Billie was always trying to stop Gruff from getting into trouble, but it never worked. Gruff was just too hungry!

“Remember what the farmer said?” said Billie. “One more naughty munch from you and he’ll turn you into Goat Pie!”

7

Gruff made a face.

“You worry too much, Billie!” he said. “The farmer doesn’t care about me eating things in the farmyard.

He just doesn’t want me eating stuff near his house!”

He licked his lips. “Now, where are those flowers?”

8

“BIG – GOAT – GRUFF!” someone shouted. “GET HERE RIGHT NOW!” The shout came from the farmhouse.

Gruff looked at Billie. Billie looked at Gruff. They knew who was shouting.

It was the farmer. And he was very, very angry.