Goldilocks and the Three Bears!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Retold by Sarah Delmege

Illustrated by Gavin Scott

Parragon Books, 2011

24 Pages

Traditional Literature

          Goldilocks was walking through the woods when she smelled a yummy smell that led her to a little house in the woods. She knocked on the door, and it opened! She looked around and no one was home! She came to the kitchen and found three bowls of porridge. The first was too hot, the second was too cold, but the last was just right! So she ate it all! Goldilocks decided that she needed to sit down. The first chair was too big; the second chair was also too big, the third chair was just right. As soon as she was comfortable, the chair broke! Then Goldilocks decided it would be a good idea to just lie down. The first bed was too hard, the second was too soft, but the third, of course, was just right! While Goldilocks was in the bed, the owners of the home arrived, and to Goldilocks surprise, they were bears! They found her in Baby Bear’s bed; Goldilocks woke up, and ran out of the house. She has never returned to the three bear’s house!

          Scott uses double page and single page spreads along with a few vignettes to display his child friendly and bright illustrations. His illustrations are created using acrylic paint.  He uses informal as well as very informal text placement to invite the child into reading the book, and it works! I did not want to stop reading this book! Many of the pages use negative space to emphasize the importance of the pages, such as the bears. Scott uses smooth lines to create a soft texture for the book to match the front cover of the book which is soft. 

          This book would be great when discussing Traditional Literature because this is a classic piece that the majority of the students have heard all of their lives. The teacher could have the students retell the book in their own words. It could be used as an introduction to teaching onomatopoeias because there are several mentioned in the book such as rumble, knock and roar! This book has not received any awards.