Picture Book Resources
Bears Should Share!/Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alan Granowsky, ill. by Anne Lunsford and Lyn Martin
So my very first book breaks the rules I just set a little bit. This book is part of a series of fairytales called Another Point of View. Each book includes a traditional telling of the story, but when you flip the book over it includes a telling of the story from another point of view, usually the “bad guy.” In this case, Bears Should Share! tells the story from Goldilocks’ point of view.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Point of View: This whole series by Granowsky is great to use when talking about point of view in writing.
- Stepping into Others’ Shoes: Often during conflicts it is a good practice to step back and try to see things from the perspective of the other side. These two stories could help kids see the benefits of this practice.
- Compare/Contrast: Obviously any and all of the books in today’s Brainstorm could be used in compare/contrast activities with the original tale and each other.
- Animal Lovers: This is another one that will apply to most of the books in this Brainstorm. Animal lovers should love the bears (and other animals) that Goldilocks meets.
Deep in the Forest by Brinton Turkle
A little bear wanders into a house, tries out three bowls of food, tries out three chairs, and then tries out three beds till he finds one to curl up in. The humans come home (one of which is a girl with golden curls) and discover the intruder.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Wordless Book: This is an entirely wordless flip of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," and it was fantastic. It’s the perfect kind of fairytale book for readers not ready for words yet.
- Creative Writing (any language): Being wordless it lends itself to numerous activities like having students write words to go with the story.
- Prediction/Using Prior Knowledge: “Read” this book with younger kids familiar with the original tale and see if they can figure out what is going on. What will happen next? It should be easy for them to do, and they should also easily be able to figure out why it was easy for them to predict.
- Fairytale Debate: The real question this book begs to have answered is which home invasion came first, the bear's or Goldilock's?
Somebody and the Three Blairs by Marilyn Tolhurst, ill. by Simone Abel
A bear wanders into the Blairs' house while they are out for a walk. He helps himself to a snack, tries to find a nice seat, tries to find a game, looks for a source of water, and then for a place to nap. When the Blairs return from their walk, they are in for quite a surprise.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Compare/Contrast Bear: I like the twist on the traditional Goldilocks and the Three Bears in this book. The bear is the intruder, and the bear approaches many of the human items as a wild bear would. Food is a toy, shelves full of towels may look like a bed, and the sources of water...well, they aren't in the fridge. Usually the bears in most versions of this tale act pretty much like humans. This one does a little, but he has more natural tendencies.
- Compare/Contrast Baby Response: I also enjoyed Baby Blair's response to the intruder. Instead of the usual frightened response, he's thrilled with the teddy bear come to visit.
- Vernacular/Slang in Dialogue: Baby Blair's speech is somewhat babyish and written in vernacular/slang, so beginning readers may struggling reading his lines. But classes learning about writing this way may find this an easy example. They’re all short and quick.
- Quick Fractured Fairytale Read: For the most part the reading level is fairly easy and this is a quick fractured fairy tale read.
- Animal Lovers: Another great pick for animal lovers.
The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett
Aloo-ki is out with her sled dog team when they get separated by an ice floe. As she tries to keep them in sight, she comes across a cozy looking igloo. Meanwhile, the polar bear family has set out on a stroll since their soup was too hot to eat. While Aloo-ki makes herself at home in the igloo, the polar bears rescue her dog team. Which is a good thing, because when Aloo-ki wakes up with three polar bears in her face she is in a huge hurry to get out of there.
This is a cute re-imagining of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Brett's illustrations are incredible as always. I like how the middle of the spread tells the main focus, but the side panels keep track of what else is going on. (For example, if the focus is on Aloo-ki, the side panels show what the polar bears are up to.)
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Creative Writing/Setting: Brett gets points for having one of the most unique settings for her Goldilocks rewrite. You could use this as a creative writing starter, asking students to make their own Goldilocks rewrite in a different setting. How would that influence the various aspects of the story? What did Brett change to fit the setting?
- Variety in Writing: I also like that Brett did not use the normal repetition when the bears discover things, she varied what each bear said slightly, a good example for kids about varying phrases in their own writing.
- Alaska Read/Intuit Read/Winter Read: If you’re looking for a read set in Alaska, featuring an Intuit character, or just a chilly setting, this book would meet any of those desires.
- Art Lovers/Animal Lovers: Jan Brett is one of the best illustrators for kids who love animals. She makes them come to life so well. This one features both sled dogs and polar bears.
- Theater: Because Brett shows both what’s happening in the main location and elsewhere, it would be fairly easy to have students turn this into a little play. Some can be the sled dogs, some can be the polar bears, and of course there’s Aloo-ki.
Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians by Jackie Mims Hopkins, ill. by John Manders
Goldie Socks takes a short cut through the woods to school since she's running late and comes upon a house made of books. As a book lover, she can't resist the home of the three libearians (bear librarians). It takes her a while, but she eventually finds some books that are just right, and then a cozy place to read them.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Humorous Read/Puns: This is a humorous twist on the typical fairy tale. The libearian pun may have some readers groaning.
- Book/Library Lovers: I loved how books were used in place of the porridge and beds, and how the chair became important in finding a place to read. The ending is somewhat different from the norm for this fairy tale too.
- Predicting/Using Prior Knowledge: Due to the parallels with other tales and slight differences, this would be a fun book to have students predict what will happen next. It may not be as easy as some other versions, but not impossible either.
- Setting: This is another good one to look at and examine how the tale was changed to fit the setting. Like Brett’s book, you could also use this as a jumping point for creative writing to ask students to create their own new version of the tale in a new setting.
I Thought This Was a Bear Book by Tara Lazar, ill. by Benji Davies
Prince Zilch from Planet Zero gets shot out of his own book and crash lands in the book Goldilocks and the Three Bears. If Prince Zilch doesn't get back to his own story by page 27 horrible things will happen to his home. Mama Bear and Papa Bear try everything they can think of (while avoiding Goldilocks), but nothing seems to work. Thankfully, Baby Bear has a plan that's just right.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Illustration Lovers: I know there are those out there who just pick up books for the illustrations. That’s totally fine. Go pick this one up if you’re one of those people. This is a delightful fractured fairy tale with fun illustrations.
- Problem Solving: There’s quite a bit of quick thinking needed in this story to fix everything that’s gone wrong. I love how Mama and Papa's ideas involve parts of their normal story. And the entire tale as a whole is a good example of thinking outside the box.
- Science Fiction Fans: Scifi picture books are not super abundant. I personally love scifi, and I love out-of-the-box story ideas, so this is one of my favorites on this page. Prince Zilch is a delightful addition to the tale.
- Creative Writing: This would also make a good writing prompt, have students imagine other characters falling out of their own books into other stories and the crazy results.
- Compare/Contrast: Obviously, this has a lot of things different from other versions of the Goldilocks tale, however there are still many similarities. Plenty of fodder here for any compare/contrast activity with the traditional tale or other adaptations.
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems
Mama Dinosaur, Papa Dinosaur, and the other Dinosaur visiting from Norway, decide to go on a stroll after making some chocolate pudding. They make sure to leave the door unlocked, and though you might think you see them lurking in the woods waiting for a wayward child to go waltzing in their door, you're probably mistaken. Goldilocks comes along, and proceeds to go through the normal Goldilocks routine, until she decides something is fishy with the setup and she better skedaddle out of there.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Humor Fans: I can safely say that no other fractured fairy tale version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" has had me laughing quite this much. Willems, puts his own humorous twist on the tale, and the unwitting trio out for a walk turn into decidedly sneaky, hungry carnivores who've set up a trap for an unwitting, greedy girl. Kids will be relieved to know, that Goldilocks kind of learns her lesson and ends up ok. The dinosaurs are ok too, though decidedly still hungry at the end.
- Little Details in the Illustrations/Observation: Whenever I find little humorous things in illustrations I feel like I’ve been let in on an inside joke by the illustrator. I love them. You simply have to go back and look for little things in the background after you've read this story. A certain feathery Willems character pops up a couple times, and some of the wall hangings in the dinosaur's home are hilarious. (My personal favorite is the, “We Are Natural Gas” poster. Kids won't get it. That one was definitely put there for the adult readers.)
- Protagonist/Antagonist Debate: Here’s a tricky question for this read, who is the antagonist and who is the protagonist?
- Dinosaur Fans: This one is pretty obvious. There’s dinosaurs. Conniving dinosaurs. Dinosaur fans should love this.
Tackylocks and the Three Bears by Helen Lester, ill. by Lynn Munsinger
Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect decide to put on a play and drag Tacky into it too. To the rest of the penguins' horror, the play proves to have a tough audience and isn't quite going according to script, but thanks to Tacky's improv it works out ok.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Humor Fans: Tacky the Penguin is always good for a laugh. Pick this one up if you need a funny read.
- Penguin Fans: So half the reason I love Tacky so much is that I’m a huge penguin fan. The other half is that he’s so lovable and fun, and has some great points in his stories.
- Loving Misfits/Oddballs/Outsiders: Tacky is the oddball of his little group of penguins, but over and over his unconventional ways save the day. Tacky’s always a good read when you need to talk about loving and appreciating others who are different and possibly a little strange.
- Theater: To improvise or not to improvise that is the question when the play is not going according to plan. Perfection is the goal of every performer, but sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. Drama teachers could use this one to talk about what to do when things are not perfect.
- Compare/Contrast: This is the only version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" that is actually a story within a story. It provides another interesting point for potential compare/contrast activities of different versions of the tale.
Middle Grade Fiction Resources
The Perfect Match (Fairy-tale Matchmaker, #2) by E.D. Baker
Cory Feathering, descendant of Cupid, must find the perfect match for Goldilocks, but it isn’t proving easy.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Fantasy Fans: I haven’t read this one yet, but E.D. Baker is a constant win in our Media Center with fairytale and fantasy fans. All of her series are constantly checked out. From what I’ve heard, you do need to read the first one in this series to appreciate this book.
- Romance Fans: For the hopeless romantic of any age, Baker provides safe love stories appropriate for middle grade readers (and older).
Goldilocks Breaks In (Grimmtastic Girls, #6) by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams
Goldilocks joins the villain organization E.V.I.L. to spy on them.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Chapter Book Fractured Fairytales: The Grimmtastic Girls series is another one that's a huge hit in our Media Center with fairytale and fantasy fans. This whole book is a play on the Goldilocks’ original tale. Recommend it (and the whole series) to middle grade fairy tale fans.
- Spy Stories: This is a safe spy story for middle grade readers too. And who can resist a good spy story?
Red: the True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff
(No, I’m not going crazy. Yes, I know the title says stuff about Red Riding Hood. But hang with me, Goldilocks is in here too.)
Red's parents are going on a trip and she's supposed to stay with Granny. But Granny comes down ill and she's out of her special cure all. Afraid for Granny's life, Red sets out to collect ingredients for the healing spell, but finds out from a captured troll that it may be possible to get her Granny something to give her eternal life instead. Wouldn't that be better? An annoyingly chatty girl from the village, Goldie (See! Not crazy.), invites herself along on Red's quest. The two odd companions are off in search of something that will ensure Granny won't die, but they'll find other things along the way they never expected.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Fairytale Fans: I’ll come back to this one when I do other fairytale Brainstorms. Obviously there are Little Red Riding Hood elements in this story, but several other fairy tales that featured a Red or Rose Red. There's some Beauty and the Beast, there's mention of the lesser known Snow White and Rose Red tale, and of course Goldie gets nods to her own fairy tale (best rendition ever...Goldie[locks] and the Three Trolls). And then there's the way Shurtliff worked the wolf and the huntsman into the plot. Quite clever. This is a companion book to Rump and Jack, some characters overlap, but each story stands up quite well all on it’s own. All are recommended to fairy tale fans.
- Character Development: Both Goldie and Red have some personal growth to do along the way, and though they have a really rough start, they end up perfect friends for each other. And the lessons they each learn are good ones.
- Dealing with Death: This one is a little more serious than Rump or Jack as it does deal with coming to terms with the very real possibility of losing a loved one. Shurtliff says in the notes that she lost her own beloved Grandmother during the writing of this story, and that deeply influenced the tale. It was really well done though, and full of heart.
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