GOLDILOCKS, GO HOME!

Goldilocks overstays her welcome with the three bears in this (very) fractured fairy tale.

Insisting she is really a switched-at-birth princess, Goldilocks flees her suburban home and runs into the woods in search of her rightful parents and their castle. Exhausted from running all night, she finds an unlocked house and, as the story goes, tries the porridge, chairs, and beds she finds there. Papa and Mama Bear show sympathy for Goldilocks, offering her a place to stay while she waits for the Big Bad Wolf to leave the area. But Bobby Bear—Baby Bear’s new, more mature name—has had enough of “the furless one” and devises a plan to take her to the castle despite his parents’ injunction. With appearances by the hungry bridge troll, the three little pigs, and others, this mixed-up story is a new take on the classic fairy tale. Goldilocks and Bobby Bear take turns narrating their story, but their mutual animosity means they keep interrupting each other’s narrative, a device that’s sometimes funny but often distracting. Black-and-white drawings are scattered throughout the text, but these obtrusions often overpower the narrative. References to cautious Bobby Bear’s lack of bravery and princesslike behavior are off-putting, in line with the overall abrasive tone of the humor.

A potentially fun twist on a classic fairy tale that unfortunately isn’t “just right.” (Fantasy. 7-10)