Book Review: The Three Bears

Book # 10

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation: 

The Three Bears

By Byron Barton. Illus. by author.

1991. 31p. HarperCollins. $16.89. (9780060204242)

Age Group:

PreS

Genre:

Folklore, Juvenile fiction

Awards:

None listed.

Topics/Issues:  

Bears, Folklore

ELS promoted: 

Print motivation, print awareness, narrative skills, vocabulary

Format: 

Hardcover

Author/Illustrator sites:

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/kids/authorsandillustrators/contributordetail.aspx?cid=11779

Categorization Tags:

E Barton

Annotation:

While three bears are away from home, Goldilocks ventures inside their house, tastes their porridge, tries their chairs, and finally falls asleep in Baby Bear’s bed.

Reactions/Observations:

The three bears make some porridge but decide to go for a walk to let their meal cool down. Lurking in the nearby wood, Goldilocks spies some tasty porridge and invites herself into their house.  She tries each bear’s porridge, only to discover that Little Bear’s is “just right”! The same story repeats when she decides to sit upon their chairs and snooze upon their bed except that she dozes off before she can make her escape. The three bears find her in bed. When Goldilocks sees the three bears, she runs away.

Barton retells the classic story of Goldilocks and the three bears in a very simplistic way.  Rhythmic text and striking pictures allow for simple words and bold images to keep this fairy tale charming even in its most basic form. There were images showing Goldilocks trying each porridge, sitting in each chair, and trying each bed.  The step by step imagery and patterns in dialogue allow for easy retelling.  I especially appreciated the use of color in each of the illustrations.  The colors are bright but basic, staying close to the primary color palette.  The drawings mimic a children’s drawing style. None of the images are outlined in black which creates a bright atmosphere amidst the story of oatmeal theft in what used to be a quiet neighborhood. 

This book was shelved in our picture book fiction section by author.  Other retellings of this story were shelved either in nonfiction PZ8.1 area or in the picture book fiction area. I considered these other renditions when selecting my book for this post.  Jan Brett’s version (Putnam, 1987; shelved in nonfiction) and James Marshall’s rendition (Dial, 1988; shelved in fiction) were both in the running, but Barton’s simple retelling serves the 0-4 audience best.