Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Usborne Picture Books)

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I think the Jim Aylesworth and Barbara McClintock version is still my favorite, but this edition is also worth a look - particularly for Jan Brett fans!

My impression of this story is that I enjoyed reading it, it brought back memories to when I read this as a child. It looks as though someone’s been messing with my porridge and whoever it is has left muddy footprints on my chair. I have never actually read the story till now and I find it cute but I think I prefer being told it naturally without a book. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real. When Goldilocks hears no answer after knocking on the cottage door, she enters and helps herself to the bears’ porridge, sits in their chairs, and finally falls asleep in the comfiest bed.I knew I would die if I stayed there so I diligently studied the viola, and eventually won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory in Boston. I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting. Goldilocks and the Three Bears was originally titled The Story of the Three Bears, published in the collection English Fairytales, retold by Flora Annie Steel (1922), illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Then she got into their porridge papas bowl was too hot,mamas bowl was too cold and baby bears was just right and she ate it all up. The door was not fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody any harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them.

This is a great resource for using in any primary classroom - perfect for starting discussions about story structure, settings and characters. The accompanying illustration shows Goldilocks jumping off a swing and into a pool of water, beside which a group of cats are sleeping; her facial expression shows that she knows the cats are there, and she knows exactly what effect her splash-landing will have on them.I have always been interested in the origin of fairy tales ever since being given some fabulous complete works as a young girl. Parents should talk to their children about the importance of having good manners and that children should never wandered into a stranger’s home without either knocking first or being accompanied by a parent.

As for the story, the cover says “Retold” by Brett, but the story read very similarly to the original. Ah, perhaps that’s it – I hadn’t thought of that, but the idea that protagonists can be morally troubling anti-heroes could, as you say, be an interesting lesson for children.As it states in the story when it says “Once upon a time there were three bears who lived together in a house of their own in a wood. James Marshall’s illustrations are truly colorful and hilarious making it a true recipient of the prestigious Caldecott Honor Award. But when she sat down in the chair of the Little Wee Bear, that was neither too hard nor too soft, but just right. Several versions of the fairy tale published in the mid-nineteenth century altered the three bears into a family trio, yet somewhat confusingly, in the accompanying illustrations, the bears are all male and all the same size. The teacher can also request that as Goldilocks and the Three Bears is being read, the students should be listening as if they are the bears themselves.