The Three Bears and Goldilocks

In Bee Waeland’s first picture book, she ambitiously adapts the classic story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” entirely without the use of text. In the traditional tale, Goldilocks’ name is foregrounded as presumably the hero or, at least, the protagonist. Waeland cleverly flips the title around to reveal that Goldilocks is actually the odd one out, someone intruding on an otherwise good and peaceful family of bears.

Waeland delightfully illustrates said bear family, showing their everyday routines of porridge-eating, playing with toys and adventuring outdoors. Goldilocks, in contrast, is menacingly introduced to the reader standing on her own, shoveling food into her mouth greedily, boots dripping with mud. With one humorously simple illustration after another, Waeland depicts the criminal journey of Goldilocks, showing the broken planter from which Goldilocks retrieves the spare key before unceremoniously breaking into the bear family’s home while they are away. Waeland lays out the clues of Goldilocks’ trespass amusingly, showing her muddy footprints throughout the house and the broken leg of baby bear’s chair leg left in her wake. The ominous figure of Goldilocks appears on the page again with an extreme close up of her mouth devouring baby bear’s porridge villainously, allowing for readers’ gasps and laughs in equal measure. Muddy footprints are then shown heading upstairs, warning of Goldilocks’ sinister final destination – baby bear’s bed.

At this point, the bears are brought back into their story with the family returning home to the chaos inflicted on their possessions by the little criminal whom they locate sleeping in baby bear’s bed, comically drooling on the pillow. Here is where Waeland again twists the traditional tale as a bear paw is shown picking up a telephone receiver followed swiftly by a two-page closeup of police sirens. Goldilocks is next seen put behind bars for her crimes while the bear family celebrates in peace once again. On the final page, baby bear is shown once again playing with his toys, this time ignoring the doll that looks suspiciously like Goldilocks in favour of an animal toy.

Waeland does an expert job in unraveling a well-known story without the use of text, building sequences of events out of simple visual details. The humour is also conveyed easily with the comically menacing figure of Goldilocks, the character given the monstrous treatment she usually manages to avoid in other interpretations of the classic. Waeland’s simple, colourful drawings aid in the amusement, painting sinister actions in bright primary colours and nonthreatening shapes. The Three Bears and Goldilocks is an entertaining lap read for younger readers, the wordless story providing an opportunity for child readers to speculate on the events of the story, notice details and piece together chains of events while enjoying the ridiculous escapades of a familiar little burglar finally given her just desserts.