GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS

Another "Goldilocks"? Yes, with a fresh take, unusual setting and appealing illustrations.

Goldilocks’ parents work in a circus. One evening, the caravan stops at the edge of a big forest. A path leads the girl into the woods, where she picks a bouquet of pretty flowers, but then she can’t find the path to go back. In tears, she finds herself in a clearing where there’s a funny house. She goes in, but no one is home. She tries the usual threesomes of chairs, porridge and beds. The bears return home to find her asleep in Baby Bear’s bed. Startled, she grabs her shoes and runs outside. Daddy Bear shouts after her, “Don’t you know to knock first if a door is closed?” Goldilocks finds the path to the caravan and from then on “always remembered to knock first.” The engaging illustrations of Goldilocks in her vivid red sweater and polka-dot skirt are painted on ecru paper, adding a woodsy flavor. Textured details such as the wooden, bear-shaped chairs, umbrellas with carved bear heads, bee patterns on the bedspreads and three-little-pig piggy banks enhance the whimsy. Even the white splotch under Mama Bear’s chin suggests a fuzzy necklace.

The artwork, a cross between Paul Galdone’s version (1985) and Emma Chichester Clark’s (2010), makes this a charming version you can’t bear to be without.