GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS

Though not straying as far from standard versions as Diane Stanley’s Goldie and the Three Bears (p. 1024), this new rendition gives the classic tale a fresh shot of charm. Sounding like a rather maternal storyteller—“Straight away, she saw those porridge bowls on the kitchen table. And mmm, yes! That porridge smelled so delicious that I’m afraid she forgot that her mother had told her not to touch other people’s food . . .”—Aylesworth sends the good-but-impulsive Goldilocks through the back door of a “curious little house” as its ursine residents stroll out the front. Later, when they wake her from her nap, she remembers her mother’s admonition never to talk to strangers, dashes away, and “never ever forgot not to do what her mother told her not to do ever, ever, ever again.” Featuring a pretty, pinafore-clad child whose mobile features express exaggerated looks of disgust or delight, McClintock’s finely detailed illustrations have a 19th-century feel, classic but not stiffly formal. A witty alternative to Paul Galdone’s primal version (1972). (source note). (Picture book/folk tale. 7-9)