Just Right Bite: Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WERE THREE DINOSAURS, PAPA DINOSAUR, MAMA DINOSAUR AND SOME OTHER DINOSAUR THAT HAPPENED TO BE VISITING FROM NORWAY.

"OH, BOY!" SAID PAPA DINOSAUR. "IT'S FINALLY TIME TO LEAVE AND GO TO... THE... UH, SOMEPLACE ELSE."

"YES," SAID MAMA DINOSAUR. "I SURE HOPE NO INNOCENT LITTLE SUCCULENT CHILD HAPPENS BY OUR UNLOCKED HOME WHILE WE ARE... UHH... SOMEPLACE ELSE."

What's more fun than three big bowls of chocolate pudding? Try Mo Willems' new spoof of the familiar old cautionary tale of Goldilocks. Not since the great James Marshall put his pen to work parodying this old story has there been a Goldie like this one.

Mo Willems' "poorly supervised" little blonde heroine (who looks suspiciously like Trixie of Knuffle Bunny fame) comes conveniently traipsing through the trees while the three dinos, er, "stroll" in the woods and wait for their chocolate pudding treat-trap to be tripped. A ladder is even left conveniently in the kitchen to help their tender little victim climb up to the counter where one bowl is cooling, one bowl is, er, warming, and one bowl is, well, maintaining ambient room temperature, we presume, in the best tradition of the laws of thermodynamics. Goldie follows the script and soon becomes a "chocolate pudding-stuffed girl bonbon" just as the tricky trio has planned.

If the welcome mat which proclaims "WIPE YOUR TALONS" doesn't give away the species of these hospitable homeowners, the size of their beds does awaken Goldie's suspicions.

"THE BEARS WHO LIVE AROUND HERE MUST BE NUTS!

HEY," SHE TOLD HERSELF, "THIS ISN'T SOME BEARS' HOUSE. THIS IS SOME DINOSAURS' HOUSE."

Mo Willem's delightful takeoff takes this oft-told old tale out for a rib-tickling stroll in the forest in his latest, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems (Balzer & Bray, 2012). Kids who know this familiar old story will delight in the device of putting those sly and devious dinos in the role of the usual clueless bears and relish the fun of this quirky version. And who could argue with the wisdom of Willem's closing aphorism--words to live by:

IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THE WRONG STORY, LEAVE!

". . . a sense of irony (and humor) as sharp as this dinosaur trio’s talons," says Publishers Weekly.