"F is for Forest. While their porridge cooled, the bears walked in the forest, where they sniffed fragrant flowers."
The classic tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears meets the alphabet in this fairy-tale-meets-concept-book story. Grace Maccarone cleverly alliterates Goldilocks's tale from A to Z.
This is a fixed-format ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book.
February 25, 2013
The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears gets an abecedarian twist, courtesy of Maccarone and Hibbert. Goldilocks, who has bronzed skin and wavy blonde hair, approaches the bears’ home when they are away: “H is for house. Goldilocks saw the bears’ happy house in the forest. I is for inside, where Goldilocks went.” Ample alliteration helps underscore the alphabet concept, but Hibbert’s digital illustrations are oddly soft-edged and fuzzy; it’s almost like watching a 3D movie without the glasses—slightly dizzying. Despite the novel structure of this retelling, the prose has a flatness that drains the story of any real excitement, and Goldilocks’s interactions with the bears provide no real surprises. Ages 4–7.
July 1, 2013
"B is for bears...Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear, who were in bed"; "G is for a girl named Goldilocks." Every letter of the alphabet is represented in this faithful retelling of the classic tale. Doe-eyed, harmless-looking bears and a wild-haired blonde Goldilocks are featured in lushly colored, slightly out-of-focus illustrations. The alphabet concept does little to enhance the storytelling.
(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
March 15, 2013
Preschool-G Goldilocks and the Three Bears gets the concept-book treatment in this alphabetical retelling. Starting with A is for alphabet to set the stageand finishing with Z is for zany . . . because it was that kind of day, the familiar fairy tale is strung along from letter to letter. The format works reasonably well. Maccarone is able to fit the story within the parameters of an alphabet book without including too many connections that feel like placeholders (one such placeholder: I is for inside, where Goldilocks goes ) until she reaches a more suitable letter. The cartoonlike illustrations have the appearance of animation stills and reinforce the text, telling the story from the point of view of the bears, who are more bemused than angry. While this book neither revolutionizes the alphabet book nor turns the fairy tale on its head, it straddles the two genres with enough success that it should appeal to fans of both.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)
February 15, 2013
Can the classic story of Goldilocks be parsed into an alphabet book--successfully? The answer is yes and no. The adaptation singles out key words to construct an alliterative alphabet tale that follows the original plot, but not all are logical choices. Some are obvious, while some are forced. Successful examples include "B is for bears. There were three bears--Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear, who were in bed" and "G is for a girl named Goldilocks." But it's hard to stretch the conceit out over 26 letters. "E is for exit. Everyone exited." "I is for inside, where Goldilocks went." K is for kitchen; Q is for question; T is for ta-dah (upon Baby Bear's discovery of Goldilocks); U is for up (Goldilocks jumps up); V is for very (frightened); X "marks the exact spot where she landed" (after jumping out of the window). The sprightly, vividly colored illustrations are comic in style, with the bears wearing clothing and Goldilocks sporting a wild mane of blonde hair (it is worth noting that her skin is light brown). Each alphabet letter is in a large, blocky display type with a faux-wood grain look. By no means is this an introduction to the fairy tale. The book would be best used as a guessing game or a writing device for kids who already know the story. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
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February 1, 2013
PreS-K-This is the bears story told one step at a time, using the letters of the alphabet as guides. "W is for window. Goldilocks jumped out the window. X marks the exact spot where she landed." The bright pictures are digitally made; Goldilocks has enormous hair and looks like a Disney princess, and the three bears have that wide-eyed Disney look as well. With the glut of trendy alphabets and rewritten classics, this one is mundane.-Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI
Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.