GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS/RICITOS DE ORO Y LOS TRES OSOS

The timeless fairy tale is retold with a bilingual text featuring the traditional players and a slightly extended conclusion.

A bit wordier than usual, the tale provides logical explanations for each of the choices this little girl makes, from leaving her home to find firewood to her famed encounters with porridge bowls, chairs and beds. The Spanish text is equally verbose but tells the story well. Slight cartoon drawings of personified bears depict Papa in checkered pants, Mama in a printed red dress and Baby in a striped shirt. They capture the bears’ surprise and mild indignation, working in concert with a text that finds them in the end more forgiving of than perturbed by their blonde, curly-haired intruder. A moralistic kernel for young listeners is included in the coda, in which Goldilocks expresses remorse and offers a plan to invite the Bear family for some of mother’s blueberry pie. Publishing simultaneously in the same format are Jack and the Beanstalk/Juanito y los frijoles mágicos, The Three Little Pigs/Los tres cerditos and Little Red Riding Hood/Caperucita Roja.

A pleasant reprise of the familiar.