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Summary
Summary
A small bear goes for a stroll in the park with his parents, leaving their bowls of porridge cooling on the kitchen table. Meanwhile, a girl with golden hair is hopelessly lost in a big, frightening city when she comes across a house with the door left invitingly open. Inside are three bowls of porridge in the kitchen, three chairs in the living room, and three comfortable-looking beds upstairs, and no one seems to be home . . .
Author Notes
ANTHONY BROWNE is the Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom, and the author and illustrator of more than forty books, including My Brother , My Dad , My Mom , and The Shape Game . He lives in England.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Browne's urban, contemporary take on the Goldilocks story brilliantly juxtaposes two artistic and narrative styles. One strand of the story is wordless, as sepia-toned panels show a girl-a hint of blond peeks from under her hoodie-and her mother walking along city streets; they become separated when the child chases after a balloon. Meanwhile, sunny pictures with softer lines and a pastel palette introduce a cheerful bear family, as the youngest bear narrates. As the trio strolls in the park while their porridge cools ("Daddy talked about his work and Mommy talked about her work. I just messed around"), the lost, worried girl enters their welcoming yellow house. The familiar story line plays out and, after the bears return, the startled child darts from the house into the rain-soaked city of graffiti, barbed wire, broken windows, and litter. Browne (My Brother) gives his Goldilocks a happy ending: she runs into her waiting mother's arms as the sun breaks out. The contrast between the threatening city and the bears' warm home adds a provocative layer to the story, underscoring the value and power of family. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
In this hauntingly original reworking of "The Three Bears," Goldilocks is a modern-day have-not, while the three bears are haves; their stories unfold separately and receive distinct visual treatments. Right-hand pages -- full-page illustrations in soft pastel colors -- tell the bears' story. While their porridge cools, the family takes a stroll through the park, the parents exuding complacency and privilege: "Daddy talked about his work and Mommy talked about her work...On the way back, Daddy talked about the car and Mommy talked about the house." In contrast, Goldilocks's life is one of poverty. Her story is told in wordless panels, cramped and claustrophobic, with all the color leached out (save for glimpses of golden hair hidden under a hoodie). Walking the mean streets of her neighborhood with her mother, Goldilocks gets lost, and when she comes upon the bears' yellow house, it's like a beacon, bright as her own hair. Browne hews closely to the signal events of the folktale -- illicit entry; porridge eating, chair breaking, and bed sleeping; discovery and flight -- but the turned-on-its-head premise removes the recklessness from Goldilocks's actions and renders them deeply poignant. Details in the art reveal Browne's signature inventiveness: on the bears' pages, the sun is shining; on Goldilocks's side the weather is as bleak as her surroundings; fleeing from the bears, Goldilocks passes windows in which lurk fairy-tale characters (a wolf, a witch, a giant). The (deserved) happy ending is gloriously rendered in the art, which makes the most of the gold we've seen only glimpses of till now. It's a rich and layered book that will reward multiple re-readings and shake up readers' assumptions about the familiar tale. martha v. parravano (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Browne's wry fractured fairy tale sets the Goldilocks story in a contemporary urban neighborhood and tells it from the dual viewpoints of a lost little girl and a baby bear. The girl's story, shown on left-hand pages, is wordless; sepia-toned pictures show a bespectacled, blond kid who gets lost in the city streets, enters a house with an open door, eats porridge, breaks a chair, and snuggles up to nap. On each facing page, Baby Bear tells his parallel story, illustrated in full color, of walking in the park with Daddy and Mommy and then coming home to find his breakfast gone, his chair broken, and someone asleep in his bed. Browne adds notes of realism and melancholy to the traditional story. Goldilocks is alone in a city filled with abandoned buildings, while Mommy and Daddy Bear complain and ignore Little Bear. The colloquial narrative adds further immediacy, and it also lightens the mood, while the climax, in which Goldilocks returns home to her mother's embrace, reveals shining gold under all the sepia brown.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Browne subtly overlays the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" with a social message. The Goldilocks character, nameless throughout, is introduced in a dark palette against a bleak urban setting. Conversely, the Bear family is presented as a colorful and happy unit. Baby Bear is the narrator. While on a walk, the girl chases a balloon and gets lost. She is drawn to the bears' house with its warm, yellow facade. There, she is another person: her head no longer hangs low, and she is infused with color, especially her fiery, golden hair. She eats the porridge, checks out the chairs, and winds up in Baby Bear's bed. She is experiencing life in a world vastly different from her own. When the bears return and find the intruder, their perfect world is shaken up momentarily and, for the first time, they are depicted without color and clearly angry. The girl flees the house and runs back to her side of town. Baby Bear is left concerned and wondering about her. The girl finally runs into the arms of her mother, and the story concludes with their wordless, warm embrace. This book looks at what constitutes family and at our culture of the haves versus the have-nots. Browne's signature artwork and intentional use of color make the juxtaposition of "Goldilocks's" plight with the bears' way of life unmistakable. Younger children can enjoy this picture book, but, in the hands of the right adult, older children will get a lot out of it. Browne has added depth to a story that we thought we already knew.-Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
his work. Mommy talked about her work. I just messed around") contrasts starkly with Goldilocks's sepia-toned world of fear and uncertainty that unfolds simultaneously, wordlessly, in sequential panels. Goldilocks, who gets separated from her mother in the sinister, graffiti-ridden city streets, takes refuge in the bear family's yellow house (color appears when she moves into comfort) and plays out her infamous porridge-chair-bedtesting routine. When the interspecies worlds collide (and the angry-eyed bears go sepia), the girl flees, eventually running into her mother's arms, both now awash in yellow. Clever, thought-provoking and unsettling. (Picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
