Blame Mother Goose? Once Upon a Slime by Andy Maxwell

Once upon a time, Goldilocks visited her old friends, the Three Bears. Sure, they had gotten off to a rocky start--what with the whole porridge thing. But now everyone was totally over it.

Plus--she thought, "Who could stay mad at the girl with such beautiful golden locks?"

It's time to let bygones be bygones!

So Goldilocks decides to drop in on the Bears, but when she opens the door--

SPLORT!

She's slimed! It's green! It's gross! It's disgusting!

Goldie blames her frenemies, the Bears, for taking revenge for her housebreaking, but when she confronts them, they deny the crime. And while they're arguing against their guilt with Goldie, it's the Three Bears who get the goopy slop dropped on them.

"YAY! A WHODUNNIT!" yells Baby Bear.

Goldie calls in Granny, who loves a mystery, and Goldie, Granny, and the Bears set out to interview the usual suspects in the neighborhood--Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, who have each other for an alibi, Rapunzel, who's not quite above it all--and all get slimed along the way. Could the Three Little Pigs be the perps? They do love muck.... But what about Prince Charming? He's got minions. Do he and Snow White have a couple thing for surprise chartreuse slime parties?

Everybody's gotta get slimed in this fractured fairy tale crime filled with familiar characters, in Andy Maxwell's fractured fairy cum mystery tale, Once Upon a Slime (Little, Brown Books, 2018), loaded with quips, puns, and snappy comebacks and illustrated in inspired cartoon style by artist Samantha Cotterill, who plants clever clues to the real perpetrator along the slime crime trail for sophisticated readers to sleuth out. Perfect for older primary readers who are on top of the trope of the fractured nursery story, this one is funny addition to the re-framed fairy tale genre. In their tongue-in-cheek review, Kirkus Reviews writes, "Cotterill's artwork—ink on watercolor paper with digitally added color—is loose and lively, and re-readers (and savvy-eyed first timers) are given hints to the real slimer."