Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5^-7. As with most fractured fairy tales, kids will have to be familiar with the original to appreciate this Goldilocks redux in which the now middle-aged Goldie tries to set right what she did wrong. Fifty years have passed, but Goldie is still guilt ridden by her experience. So she straps on her tool belt and heads back to the bears' house. She gives them a new lock, provides healthy food, and, thanks to fringe and a staple gun, redecorates. The bears are even more displeased than before, especially after tasting the food and trying to sleep in their beds. They don't know how they'll get the house back in shape--until they see a golden-haired little girl in the woods who might just come in and eat the food and break the furniture. The text is forced in places, but there's plenty of humor in Ernst's rollicking art. With lots of purples and golds, the pictures hum with funny details, such as Goldilocks carrying in cans of celery juice and rutabaga bars. Try this with the primary-grade crowd for the best laughs. --Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Fifty years after vandalizing the Three Bears' house, Goldilocks clearly has some issues to resolve. Nagged by guilt, she buys some groceries, straps on a tool belt and heads for "the deep, dark woods." Finding the Bears away, she replaces their steaming porridge with fat-free snacks and re-stuffs their beds ("Just as I remembered: too hard, too soft," she tsks). When the Bears return, theyÄand readersÄexperience profound dj
vu. Ernst, the author of the revisionist Little Red Riding Hood: A Newfangled Prairie Tale, puts a campy spin on a classic story. All the characters suffer long-term effects from their legendary first meeting; Baby Bear never left his childhood home, and "due to the fright brought on by Goldilocks, he still had a wee little voice." Ernst is at her wittiest when depicting the mild-mannered Bears, whose wide-eyed disbelief fades to glum acceptance of the unsolicited home improvements; there's also a satirical edge to the pastel palette, whose sentimental shades underline Goldi's friendly but misguided intentions. Goldilocks has grown from a curious child to a full-fledged meddler in this humorous retelling. Ages 4-8. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-An enjoyable sequel to the classic tale. Now middle-aged, Goldi has opened a locksmith shop "to help people protect themselves against snoops" and alleviate her guilt over what she did to the Bear family years ago. Still haunted by her past, she decides to visit the Bears to make amends. She finds them living exactly as before, even though Baby Bear is also now middle-aged. Goldi arrives just after the Bears have left for their morning walk and begins by installing locks on their doors (to deter intruders like herself). She then goes on to adjust the upholstery in the chairs and the beds, redecorate, and replace the Bears' unhealthy porridge with celery juice and fat-free rutabaga bars. When the Bears come home, they are more upset than ever, until the next morning when they leave for their walk and spy a young blond girl approaching their home. In the hope that she will undo Goldi's efforts, they continue merrily on their way. Ernst's cartoon-style art, done in pastel, ink, and pencil, work well and add bits of additional humor, especially in the double-page spread of the shop. Children will appreciate Goldi's attempts at repair, especially her "improvement" of the Bears' food. All in all, a solid addition to the world of fractured fairy tales.-Ellen A. Greever, University of New Orleans, LA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Goldilocks--now the proprietor of Goldi's Locks and Keys--revisits the three bears fifty years later, determined to atone for her bad behavior. Unfortunately, her attempts at reparation make this visit nearly as traumatic for the poor bears as the last one. The spirited illustrations, featuring a stout, bespectacled Goldi, enhance the humor of this clever sequel to the familiar tale. From HORN BOOK Fall 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
