Goldilocks, Go Home!

by Martha Freeman (Author) Marta Sevilla (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Prepare to laugh out loud at the antics of Goldilocks and The Three Bears in this illustrated chapter book for lovers of snarky humor and fractured fairy tales.

So I ate some porridge and broke a chair--get over it! Goldilocks snipes at Bobby Bear, as Baby Bear is now calling himself. Tensions are high at the Three Bears cottage where Goldilocks--an overdramatic tween who has deluded herself into believing she's a princess--is stranded until the Big Bad Wolf vacates the area. A hungry troll, three pigs with a home improvement show on HoGTV, and of course the Big Bad Wolf all figure into the story in this hilarious mash-up of folk and fairy tales from around the world. In chapters full of quirky and clever drawings, Bobby and Goldilocks alternate narrating the story of their hair-raising adventures.

Goldilocks aka Furless and Bobby are constantly at one another's throats and can't stop interrupting each other. But despite their mutual animosity, a kind of affection develops between Bobby and Goldilocks, and they become something like friends. As Bobby explains, I mean, annoying as she was, I didn't want her to end up wolf kibble. Over 80 illustrations are included.

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Kirkus Reviews

.. this mixed-up story is a new take on the classic fairy tale.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5--What might have happened if Goldilocks had stayed with the three bears rather than running away in fright? Readers will find the tongue-in-cheek answer in Freeman's lighthearted romp through a forest that's home to many familiar fairy-tale characters. Here, Goldilocks is reimagined as a brassy tween who storms out of her suburban home after an argument with her mother, vowing to find the castle where her real parents--the king and queen--must surely live. Predictably, she gets lost and instead discovers the three bears' cottage. Upon their return home, Mama and Papa welcome Goldilocks warmly and tell her it won't be safe to travel through the forest until after the new moon. Baby Bear, who now prefers the name "Bobby," is resentful at the intruder-turned-houseguest, and the two are at odds over everything from sleeping arrangements to dinner plans. The more determined Goldilocks becomes to leave the bears' cottage and find the castle (and the king and queen she's sure must live there), the more Bobby, eager to be rid of his new housemate, eggs her on. When the two eventually sneak out of the cottage in search of the castle, Goldilocks and Bobby must work together to escape the dangers of the forest and return home. Irreverently told from Bobby's and Goldilocks's alternating viewpoints, the story moves quickly and will be particularly appreciated by fans of other fairy-tale reimaginings such as E.D. Baker's "Tales of the Frog Princess" and Sarah Mlynowski's "Whatever After" series. VERDICT Independent readers who like their fairy-tale fun with a dash of sass will be pleased by Freeman's new offering.--Katherine Barr, Cameron Village Regional Library, Raleigh, NC

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

In this highly entertaining send-up of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" by Freeman (Effie Starr Zook Has One More Question), an independent Goldilocks, who has left home after a fight with a "peasant woman" (her mom), is invited by the bear family to stick around until the new moon, when it's safe to walk in the woods. (That's when the wolf stays home eating Chinese food instead of little girls.) Goldilocks has a mission: she's decided that she's a princess who must reunite with real parents in a castle deep in the forest, and despite dire warnings from the bears, she's determined to find them. "Bobby" Bear (he's not going by "Baby" in front of Goldilocks) is not happy about the family's human houseguest, so when the new moon arrives, he offers to accompany Goldilocks in order to get rid of her. Chapter narration switches between Goldilocks and Bobby, with each butting into the other's chapter via debut illustrator Sevilla's lively cartoons and amusing commentary. Clever references to other fairy tales and modern twists, as when Goldilocks inspires Mama Bear to get Papa and Bobby to do more housework, further enhance this delightful romp. Ages 7-10. (June)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"The real treat here is the fairy tale forest and its various nods to classic stories: the three little pigs have their own home improvement show on HoGTV, Mulan teaches kung fu lessons, and Scheherazade leads the library's storytime. . . . Sevilla's cartoonishly stylish black and white illustrations add a modern flair to classic references." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Martha Freeman
Martha Freeman has written fiction for children of all ages, including The First Kids Mysteries, The Chickadee Court Mysteries, and Strudel's Forever Home. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Marta Sevilla is an exciting young artist whose work has appeared in newspapers and magazines in both North America and Europe, including The Washington Post and the Boston Globe. She lives in Spain.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780823438570
Lexile Measure
680
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Holiday House
Publication date
June 20, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV045000 - Juvenile Fiction | Readers | Chapter Books
JUV012040 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | Adaptations
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Characters in literature
Bears
Wolves
Three bears (Tale)

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