Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31936 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover

Customer Reviews

A simply delightful read
Combining an imaginative re-working of the 'Goldilocks and the 3 Bears' fairytale by Jackie Mims Hopkins with the cartoon-style full color artwork of John Manders, "Goldie Socks And The Three Libearians" is the picturebook story of a little girl who enters the home of a book loving family consisting of Papa Bear who is a public librarian, Mama Bear who is a school librarian, and Baby Bear who is a librarian in training at the Grizz Lee Preschool. Goldi Socks takes advantage of the Bear family's absence to explore the home and becomes so engaged with the books she finds there that she doesn't hear the family's return. Adding to the delightfully entertaining twist to an old and favorite story, is a thoroughly happy ending! "Goldie Socks And The Three Libearians" is a simply delightful read that will entertain young readers and make a very popular addition to family, school, and community library picturebook collections. Teachers and homeschooling parents will find the accompanying 'Library Lessons' created by Jackie Mims to be an ideal supplement to teach children how to select 'just the right book' in a school or community library in a timely fashion.

Teacher's Grade: B-
This is a cute book that can tie in with any elementary classroom's first trip to a school library. The pictures are entertaining with text that is simplistic enough to engage a kindergarten student while punny enough to appeal to a 4th-5th grader. This is not a book that kids will want to hear over and over again since there is very little depth to the story, but it is definitely worth at least reading once/school year.

I Wouldn't Say This Take on Goldie Locks is Just Right But it is a Fun Read!
I work in a public library so am always interested in stories set in libraries. Which this technically isn't, as it is the bears' home, but it's close enough. There's hundreds of children's picture books relating to libraries but Hopkins has come up with a good idea by putting a unique spin on a classic fairytale as well.

Drawings by John Manders are pretty well drawn. The basic plot of Goldie Socks is a young blond girl takes a shortcut to school through the woods and comes across a weird building which is constructed of giant books. Being a huge book fan she forgets all about being late for school and checks it out. No one is home so she goes inside and picking up books finds one is too heavy, one too little but one was just right. Actually she gets two books a non fiction and a chapter book which the author seems to have included to promote a five finger rule (no not the shoplifting one but easily to be confused when reading a book about an intruder) that I'm guessing is their idea as it's not used in any library I've been in but well may be an American thing, (feel free to comment and tell me). The same select three until last is "just right" charade is done with finding a comfortable place to read. Disappointingly they didn't do a third 3 things like in the original fairytale and we also don't have the standard bears catch her and eat her ending I have no problem with a different ending but thought the one included was a bit weak and certainly not the result of what a family would do if they came home and found an intruder in their house.

It's a good tale, that doesn't reach the peak of the books in either library fiction or fairy tale spins genres but it is a good read and one most kids would enjoy.

The best two library themed picture books I've come across are Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk.

The best fairytale parodies or sequels/prequels picture books are Porkenstein, Sequel to the Three Little Pigs where the remaining and now very lonely pig decides to make a new friend, using poetic licence the big bad wolf who died in the original also makes an appearance. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs where told from the wolf's own mouth the reader finds out what really occurred surrounding the events of the destruction of the houses of straw and twigs and the demise of their occupants.