Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 08/01/2012 PreS-Gr 3—This zany addition to the fractured-fairy-tale canon features a yellow-haired Goldilocks in a pink dress and three dinosaurs-Papa, Mama, and "some other Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway." Arising one morning, the dinosaurs cook their chocolate pudding "at varying temperatures" and intentionally leave the pudding bowls out to lure "a little succulent child" into their home. Goldilocks, being a heedless little girl who "never listened to warnings about the dangers of barging into strange, enormous houses," does just that and proceeds to stuff herself with the dinosaurs' bait-er, chocolate pudding. Tired and sleepy, she finds the bedroom but-uh, oh!-overhears the dinosaurs outside gloating, "Delicious chocolate-filled-little-girl-bonbons are yummier when they're asleep!" Suddenly realizing that she's in the wrong story, Goldilocks beats a hasty retreat just as the three dinosaurs return licking their lips-and happily finds her way into the right story with the three bears on the last page. This is pure Mo Willems, from the many visual gags in the cleanly drawn illustrations and the tight, tongue-in-cheek story line to the endpapers, decorated with dozens of hilarious crossed-out title possibilities. The book's generous trim size, varied illustrative perspectives, and dramatic text lend this title perfectly to a lively group read-aloud; pair it with a traditional version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to discuss differences and similarities. Readers of all ages will find much to chuckle about in this wacky retelling.—Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT - Copyright 2012 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 07/01/2012 *Starred Review* This is Willems’ first attempt at retelling a classic fairy tale and, if the endpapers are any indication, he might have struggled a bit at first. Red marks through such options as “Goldilocks and the Three Clams” and “Goldilocks and the Three Orthodontists” eventually give way to the ideal trio: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur, and “some other Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway.” After they randomly set up three beds, three chairs, and three bowls of chocolate pudding, the dinosaurs head out to “someplace else” and hope “that no innocent little succulent child happens by.” Cue “poorly supervised” Goldilocks, who blithely barges in and helps herself to all the amenities awaiting her, until the pending danger finally dawns on her and she bolts, which causes the returning, hungry dinos to rue the fact they forgot to lock the backdoor. The book’s masterful line art and muted color palette contain untold expressions, perspectives, and jokes, and the text dryly emanates irony, wit, and wonderful words like traipsing and groggy. Willems has delivered his very best work so far—this is a tasty treat for kids already fluent with the original, and for any fan of funny, and everybody will want to read it again and again and again. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With three Caldecott Honor Books to his name—plus zillions of fans—Willems is children’s book royalty. - Copyright 2012 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 10/01/2012 Three dinosaurs (Papa, Mama, and “some other Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway”) leave out three tempting bowls of chocolate pudding while they go “Someplace Else” (they “were definitely not hiding in the woods waiting for some unsuspecting kid to come by”). Along comes Goldilocks (a dead ringer for Trixie from the Knuffle Bunny books), who promptly enters the Dinosaurs’ house and gobbles up all the pudding, even that which is too hot and too cold “because, hey, it’s chocolate pudding, right?” She is just checking out the beds when she happens to overhear the Dinosaurs gloating outside the window: “DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE-FILLED-LITTLE GIRL-BONBONS ARE YUMMIER WHEN THEY’RE RESTED!” No dummy, Goldilocks skedaddles out the back door leaving the Dinosaurs sadly disappointed. A helpful moral instructs that “if you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave,” while the Dinosaurs’ moral is “Lock the back door!” Master of absurdity Willems knows just how to turn a classic on its ear, and he does so here with considerable wit. The narrator’s straight-faced insistence that the Dinosaurs are on the up and up—when they are clearly not—will be a hit with kids who have recently discovered irony, and the numerous humorous illustrative details will also provoke plenty of giggles. The Pigeon’s appearance in a few places and the endpapers in which a plethora of alternate titles are considered and crossed out will also inspire careful and repeated viewing. Adults determined to get more educational mileage out of this might pair it with Trivizas’ The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig (BCCB 9/93) for a fractured fairytale fest or use it to inspire kids to write their own folktale parodies. JH - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.