Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems

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The one I was most excited to read Raisin was Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems (Balzer + Bray, 2012), which I was eager to read long before I knew it was on the Cybils nomination list!1 Mo Willems has transformed a traditional story into an amusing new creation in Three Dinosaurs. Goldilocks is obviously trying to follow the script, and it seems the dinosaurs have set a trap so they could get an afternoon treat, but Goldilocks runs in to a few problems:

The first chair was too tall.

The second chair was too tall.

But the third chair — WAS TOO TALL.

The end of the story provides a silly moral for the child reader. Three Dinosaurs is a wonderful addition to the Goldilocks tradition. It still has me chuckling.

I love reading my son fairy tales. I particularly love fairy tales retold. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszkca (1989) was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. I love hearing a familiar story from some other characters point of view! Also, my own son has gone through his own love-phase with one fairy tale in particular, the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story. So of course the fairy tale books on the Cybils 2012 list have simply called out to me.

  1. Funny story: the other day after Raisin did his two or three spelling words for me, he gave me a spelling quiz. One word he gave me was “Mo” with the sentence “Elephant and Piggie is written by Mo Willems.”
Reviewed on November 4, 2012

About the author 

Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mother seeking to make the journey of life-long learning fun by reading lots of good books. Rebecca Reads provides reviews of children's literature she has enjoyed with her children; nonfiction that enhances understanding of educational philosophies, history and more; and classical literature that Rebecca enjoys reading.

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