Title Goldilocks and the Three Bears Series --- Author --- Illustrated By --- Publisher Derrydale - 1980 First Printing Derrydale - 1980 Category Children Warnings None Main Characters Goldilocks, Father Bear, Mother Bear, Baby Bear Main Elements Anthropomorphic

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Robert Southey seems to be credited with first writing down the story of The Three Bears, but as with most fairy tales, their origins are complicated and hard to trace. Now if you aren't familiar with the story, Goldilocks is a young girl who goes for a walk in the woods and comes upon a strange little house. Letting herself in she finds no one home. As she is tired, she finds a chair on which to sit down, but the first is too hard, the second too soft and the third just perfect...at least till it breaks. Then she gets hungry, and in the kitchen she finds three bowls of porridge. The first is too salty, the second too sweet, but the third is just perfect and she finishes it off. Finally she is tired, but the first bed is too hard, the second too soft, but the third is just right. And that is where the three bears find her when they come back from gather firewood!

Now the Derrydale collection of classic fairy tales are lovely. The artwork is nice, especially in this edition where around the edges there is all kinds of interesting things going on. Like little woodland animals gathering food, or on one page, a couple of creatures carrying a third as they exit a pub. Who'd think they'd find a drunk mouse in a story book like this! So it's fun to look for those extras. On the other hand, while I couldn't find an "original" versions of the story on the web, I know from the other Derrydale books that they will sometimes change the story, and always alter the wording. I doubt this one is any different, but it is meant for very young readers so the language is designed for them.