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GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE KNOCKS

Name: GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE KNOCKS
Author: Gregory Barrington
ISBN: 978-0-06-289137-2

by Gregory Barrington ; illustrated by Gregory Barrington ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 15, 2022

It’s not too hot; it’s not too cold—it’s just mediocre.

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Who’s ready for a prequel?

Just as readers are beginning a traditional retelling of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” a precocious, light-skinned, golden-locked child interrupts to clear up some facts. Did she eat the porridge? Yes. Did she break a chair? Also yes. Did she nap? OK, that’s a yes, too, but here’s the thing: The story started long before all that—it started when the bears came to visit Goldilocks. Goldilocks had just moved into her new home in the forest when the bears came to welcome her—with a pie! On this visit, Goldilocks’ chair was accidentally broken, and when Goldilocks went out to fetch some tools to fix it, the bears decided it was time to hibernate. Rude. After a seasonal sleep, the bears left and invited Goldilocks to visit them…and the rest is history. The story attempts to capture the sarcasm and humor of Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (1989), illustrated by Lane Smith, or Scieszka’s The Frog Prince, Continued (1991), illustrated by Steve Johnson, but it never seems to reach the right level of snark. Though it’s a good premise, Goldilocks is a little too earnest, a little too passive, and the final joke of the bears inviting her over is a little too expected. The digital illustrations try to capture some of the zaniness, but the fairy-tale magic just isn’t there. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

It’s not too hot; it’s not too cold—it’s just mediocre. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-06-289137-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
COW BOY IS NOT A COWBOY
by Gregory Barrington ; illustrated by Gregory Barrington

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RALPH TELLS A STORY

by Abby Hanlon & illustrated by Abby Hanlon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2012

An engaging mix of gentle behavior modeling and inventive story ideas that may well provide just the push needed to get some...

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With a little help from his audience, a young storyteller gets over a solid case of writer’s block in this engaging debut.

Despite the (sometimes creatively spelled) examples produced by all his classmates and the teacher’s assertion that “Stories are everywhere!” Ralph can’t get past putting his name at the top of his paper. One day, lying under the desk in despair, he remembers finding an inchworm in the park. That’s all he has, though, until his classmates’ questions—“Did it feel squishy?” “Did your mom let you keep it?” “Did you name it?”—open the floodgates for a rousing yarn featuring an interloping toddler, a broad comic turn and a dramatic rescue. Hanlon illustrates the episode with childlike scenes done in transparent colors, featuring friendly-looking children with big smiles and widely spaced button eyes. The narrative text is printed in standard type, but the children’s dialogue is rendered in hand-lettered printing within speech balloons. The episode is enhanced with a page of elementary writing tips and the tantalizing titles of his many subsequent stories (“When I Ate Too Much Spaghetti,” “The Scariest Hamster,” “When the Librarian Yelled Really Loud at Me,” etc.) on the back endpapers.

An engaging mix of gentle behavior modeling and inventive story ideas that may well provide just the push needed to get some budding young writers off and running. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012

ISBN: 978-0761461807

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Amazon Children's Publishing

Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
CHESTER VAN CHIME WHO FORGOT HOW TO RHYME
by Avery Monsen ; illustrated by Abby Hanlon

- BOOK REVIEW
DORY FANTASMAGORY, HEAD IN THE CLOUDS
by Abby Hanlon ; illustrated by Abby Hanlon

- BOOK REVIEW
DORY DORY BLACK SHEEP
by Abby Hanlon ; illustrated by Abby Hanlon

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MUD PUDDLE

by Robert Munsch & illustrated by Dušan Petričić ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2012

Score one for cleanliness. Like (almost) all Munsch, funny as it stands but even better read aloud, with lots of exaggerated...

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The master of the manic patterned tale offers a newly buffed version of his first published book, with appropriately gloppy new illustrations.

Like the previous four iterations (orig. 1979; revised 2004, 2006, 2009), the plot remains intact through minor changes in wording: Each time young Jule Ann ventures outside in clean clothes, a nefarious mud puddle leaps out of a tree or off the roof to get her “completely all over muddy” and necessitate a vigorous parental scrubbing. Petricic gives the amorphous mud monster a particularly tarry look and texture in his scribbly, high-energy cartoon scenes. It's a formidable opponent, but the two bars of smelly soap that the resourceful child at last chucks at her attacker splatter it over the page and send it sputtering into permanent retreat.

Score one for cleanliness. Like (almost) all Munsch, funny as it stands but even better read aloud, with lots of exaggerated sound effects. (Picture book. 6-8)