Goldilocks and the Three Bears

My granddaughter, almost 3, & I have read several versions of this story. I think this one is her favorite. I love to hear her retell it, "great, hooge bear."

My older sister had kids way before I did, so when I was pregnant with my first baby, she gave me some of her family's favorite books as a starter library for my new family. It was one of the nicest things you could do for a booky person like me! One of her favorites was Jan Brett, and I can see why. There is so much going on in a Jan Brett book. You can read Goldilocks as a straight story book, words and pictures, and enjoy it very well. You can go back to the beginning and hunt for little mice in the woodcuts on every page, and watch as they plant and tend crocus bulbs that will turn into the flowers Goldilocks is collecting when she discovers the three bears' house. You can look for "live" mice on every page, and act out their emotions as they enjoy the story. You can guess each one of the three bears' favorite things by looking at their colors and motifs all through the story. Papa bear likes yellow things and bumblebees; Mama bear likes red things and strawberries, and Baby bear likes blue things and mushrooms. Every page is loaded with clues as to what comes next -- your child can tell you the next part of the story before you turn the page. The illustrations are extraordinary. This is my favorite Jan Brett book. Enjoy it with your family.

This book has beautiful, magical, fantastical pictures with Jan Brett's typical detail and whimsy. The bear's house is extraordinary. I think it is one of her very best books and goes well with the old-fashioned text. No other version of this story compares.

I found this wonderful classic inspirational ! That Ms. Brett would go to such INCREDIBLE detail and fine art to tell the story. Even when my children were small - we would study every page EVERY time we read it and linger on the intricacy. Well done!

Brett's recreation of this much adapted, favourite nineteenth century folk-based tale is luminescent. A faithfully reworked text is simple and clear, poetic and great for reading aloud to younger children. While toddlers should enjoy the text and exploits of the "little, small, wee bear", older children and adults will derive much pleasure from this work's seemingly endless visual splendour. The painted illustrations are sublime. Brilliant, clear, richly textured, and exquisitely patterned, this book should be acquired for its artistry alone. One yearn's to reach out and touch the embroidery of the characters' clothing, stroke the bears' bristling fur, feel the porcelain-smooth, bright and beautifully decorated porridge bowls, and rub the wood grain of the handsomely carved house posts and bed boards. Beyond their technical brilliance, each painting richly illustrates the corresponding text and enlivens its characters. In Brett's version Goldilocks is at once angelic and yet completely lacking self restraint, the violated bears are more bemused than belligerent, and baby bear is a curious, playful and frolicking tot. Delightful border art offers additional commentary and foreshadowing, as well as a charming,independent narrative about a family of gardening mice. A must.