It's as if the sameness of some books creates a kind of pattern that is too easy to dismiss. When I'm on a committee, there are invariably books that seem similar to others in the same year or remind me of past books by the same author. If you were to wave something completely different in front of my eyes - say, sushi - it would look like a brilliant idea by comparison. Sure it's tasty, but after a few days those leftovers don't seem so appealing. It's like eating too much turkey, stuffing, and pie on Thanksgiving. One thing I've noticed from being on award committees is that spending the year looking at SO MANY books can distort my perspective.
We've seen him create this kind of spot-on humor delivered by cartoon-drawn creatures many times before. The moral for Goldilocks is "If you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave." For the dinosaurs, it's "Lock the back door!" And did I mention the endpapers? Genius! Willems finds the right combination of text and art silliness and makes it all look easy.
Of course, all ends well (assuming you were rooting for Goldilocks and not the dinosaurs) and Willems turns this retelling into a fable. It seems that pudding-filled little girls are the bon bon of choice for this species. The premise is that three dinosaurs (Papa, Mama, and a smaller one who is visiting from Norway) set a trap for Goldilocks, hoping to lure her to their house with chocolate pudding and then eat her when she falls asleep in one of their beds. Happily, just about all the gags in this book are targeted straight across at a folk-tale–knowledgeable elementary school audience. I'm okay with winks up to a point, but I don't like it when too many are aimed up over the heads of the kids. Like lots of fractured folktales, this is full of winks.
Since this one is by Mo Willems, it had me at "Once upon a time." Regan McMahon, reviewing from Common Sense Media, stated that the book is an "exceptional delight" with an art style that included "sly elements to entertain adults".As far as I'm concerned, there can never be too many twisted folktale retellings. Kirkus Book Reviews called it "Top-notch for group storytime, for a project on revising classics or just for enjoyment funniest for kids who know the original." A review from Publishers Weekly praised the book's humour and commented that it is "a sure bet for audiences who have moved beyond more gently witty fare". Published in 2012 by Balzer and Bray, it is a parody of the traditional tale of "Goldilocks and The Three Bears" but the bears are replaced with Dinosaurs. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs is the title of a children's picture book by Mo Willems. 2012 children's picture book by Mo Willems Goldilocks and The Three Dinosaurs
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