This picture book is non-fiction (or nearly that)! Sometimes the best ways to learn about something are through a fun story. This certainly fills that need. Daisylocks by Marianne Berkes and illustrated by Cathy Morrison (Sylvan Dell, 2014) is a beautifully illustrated book about a daisy seed trying to find a place to grow that is “just

Read Post

Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson (Candlewick Press, 2011) tells the story of Goldilocks from yet a different perspective. A bear who lives in the woods finds himself lost in the big city! The mixed media illustrations are just perfect for the mixed-up bear who just wants some peace and quiet. It’s lucky

Read Post

Previously by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Bruce Ingman is a different type of fairy tale. It goes backwards, showing that each nursery rhyme or fairy tale characters came from somewhere else. showing the effect of the action before showing the action. It begins, for example, with Goldilocks: Goldilocks arrived home all bothered and hot. And

Read Post

I’ve found that these retellings are more fun to read, sometimes, than the original. It goes to show that if you want your fairy tale picture book to stand out, you have to do something different to the story. (Stay tuned! Once I’m done talking books, my three-and-a-half-year-old son has a puppet show for you!)

Read Post

The story of Goldilocks and her visit to an unoccupied house of three bears has inspired a plethora of picture books, retellings, and rewritten accounts of the story. Robert Southey first recorded the folkloric story in an 1834 collection. (See Wikipedia for a rundown of the story’s history and reincarnations). As I mentioned when I

Read Post