The Goldilocks Variations (review)

Allan Ahlberg riffs on the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” retelling it in seven different, and often comic, variations. He begins with the classic story (with some original additions), then segues into “Goldilocks and the 33 Bears,” featuring not only mother, father, and two baby bears but also some teenage bears, some younger bears, and a “very baby bear.” There’s a sci-fi twist in “Goldilocks and the Bliim,” which finds Goldilocks encountering a “pod” of aliens who speak an amusing nonsense language; “Goldilocks: The Play” is included as a separate but attached booklet; and a horde of fairy tale characters converges in “Goldilocks and . . . Everybody.” While some of the variations are more clever than others, the book as a whole is lively and humorous; particularly funny are the Bliim’s exclamations (“Who’s been dodderling my spootz?” cries the indignant baby Bliim upon discovering his empty “porridge bowl”), some of which may well become class or family catchphrases guaranteed to send kids rolling on the floor. Although the small size of the pictures makes the title best suited to close-up viewing, they’re quite appealing; Jessica Ahlberg’s cheerful line and watercolor illustrations have much of the same charm and simple styling as the art of her mother, Janet Ahlberg. Occasional interactive elements, such as a pop-up of the Goldilocks play’s stage set and several pull-tabs, encourage further engagement with the text. This would be great fun for individual kids or small instructional groups studying folktales, or for rib-tickling parent-child bedtime reading.