Yours Truly, Goldilocks

Dear Peter Rabbit #2

by Alma Flor Ada, Leslie Tryon (Illustrator)

Deep in the Hidden Forest, familiar characters from children's best-loved stories--Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit, and Goldilocks--meet, frolic and come to life in this clever book. Full color.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Fantasy, Animals, School

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

(http://facebook.com/almaflorada)

Dr. Ada was the founder and First Editor in Chief of :
NABE, Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education

She has been active for many years in various professional associations including : IRA, International Reading Association
CRA, California Reading Association
CABE, California Association for Bilingual Education
USIBBY, US Branch of the International Board of Books for Young People

She is a member of :
Advisory Board of Loose Leaf Public Radio Programs
National Television Workshop
Between the Lines
Reading Up!, Natural Head Start Association

A frequent speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Ada also works in school districts with children, teachers and parents.

The award-winning author of numerous children’s books and a prolific translator, Alma Flor Ada is a leading mentor and philosopher of bilingual education in the United States.

She has authored several reading programs, among them two Spanish reading programs :
Cielo abierto (K-6)
Vamos de fiesta! (K-3)

and of two English reading programs :
Signatures (K-6)
Collections (K- 6)

and is a series consultant for Relatos de la historia (1-5), a Spanish social studies program developed by Harcourt School Publishers.

Among her most substantive contributions to the transmission of Hispanic culture to children are :
Música amiga, a program for learning through songs, published by Del Sol Books
Puertas al Sol - Pathways to the Sun, published by Santillana
Latino poetry, Art, and Biographies for children, published by Santillana

Dr. Ada received her Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Lima, Perú and did post-doctoral research at Harvard University as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute and a Fulbright Research Scholar.

Reviews

[Krickette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new fairytale to add to your library! This sequel to Dear Peter Rabbit, weaves in all your favorite fairytale characters! A party! Who doesn’t love a party? And the three little pigs housewarming party is the perfect setting for this storybook to unfold! Penned by Goldilocks herself, this is a wonderful new addition to the original adventurous fairytales. The illustrations are beautifully detailed on each page and the characters are lovely!

This is a 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ storybook!

[Jane Chérie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goldilocks, the Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Pigs, and other well-known fairy tales characters come to life in this enchanting little book. The epistolary form used to tell the story is imaginative and very well done. Each letter is written in a different typography (hand writing) and on a different stationery, details which add to the charm of this book. I read this book to 1st and 2nd grade students. They enjoyed the story and the illustrations very much and loved to look at the detailed map. It is a great way to teach student about letters. But the vocabulary can be very difficult for young readers. I understand that some letters were written by the wolves, aka the "older" characters in the story, but the story is meant for children and so the humor was totally lost on them. It was however not lost on me as I had a good laugh about it. So overall I would recommend this book, even to young children but an older audience would probably like it more. Just expect to explain quite a few words to children as they won't always understand the vocabulary.

To see some of the illustrations and letters, please see http://booklusting.blogspot.com/2012/...

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yours Truly, Goldilocks is a highly amusing story told via letters back and forth from various fairy tale characters, plotting parties and, in the case of the wolves, meals. The author weaves the various stories together rather like Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, while the letter-writing format made me think of Bram Stoker's Dracula. My nerdy associations aside, this was a very good read.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adorable epistolary picture book. The three little pigs are planning a house warming party and have invited Little Red Riding Hood, Peter Rabbit, Little Bear, and Goldilocks. But a wolf has caught on to their plans, and forms some plans of his own.

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Letters between the three pigs, goldilocks, little red riding hood about a house warming party. As well as letters between the bad guys. Very cute and entertaining.

[Priscila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alma Flor Ada makes some clever connections between classic children's stories. Little Red Riding Hood is friends with Goldilocks. The Three Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit, and the Bears (Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear are their friends, too). Goldilocks is related to Mr. McGregor, and he is friends with Little Red's grandma. Beware of the wolves and their plot to catch all the dearest characters at once. Talk about intertextuality! With all the spinoffs, this book might be a fun wrap up for a literacy unit on classic fables and fairy tales. The characters communicate through letters and the reader can piece the story together through the information found in them. The illustrations, by Leslie Tryon, are also full of intriguing details that will help young readers understand more about the story. The vocabulary is rich and the text is complex. English language learners will need support not only with the vocabulary, but also with the text structure, the genre (letters), and the cultural references. I recommend this book to readers of all ages who might be interested in classic literature and language.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a clever idea...letters back and forth, from fairy tale human and animal characters, arranging a house warming party for the Three Pigs. Every's invited...Goldilocks McGregor (not her dad -- he's busy tending the garden), Red Riding Hood, Peter Rabbit and his sisters, and the Three Bears. Oh, noticably OFF the invitation list are the wolves...The Pig's wolf and Red's wolf.

Goldilocks doesn't know what to bring to a house warming...a blanket? But she's game.

Letters fly back and forth -- a party is planned, but so is an ambush. The illustrations are just as important in the narrative as the words. Every character has his or her own handwriting, with some having access to a typewriter.

This would be a great way to introduce letter writing in elementary classes, and could inspire its own mash-ups...

Loved how Mama Bear saved the day. I always knew she was a fierce mama!!

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We stumbled upon this at the library and I'm so glad I picked it up! It is told in letter form from the different fairy tale characters writing to each other.

I liked that this will allow the kids to really start working on predicting what is going to happen rather than showing them. Once the housewarming party arrives, there is just a two page spread of the party, and then a few pictures of the guest leaving and then getting attacked by the wolves. But then someone steps in to save the day.

I really enjoyed how this story was put together. I think this would be a great book to read in a 1st or 2nd grade class. I like the predicting aspects based on all the different letters going back and forth. And I liked how they can describe what is happening at and after the party in the illustrations.

I think we are going to look for the sequel book.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for a program I was doing, where I was giving copies of this book to Kindergarteners. It is definitely NOT a book for Kindergarteners. It's too long and has a lot of words that age wouldn't understand. The plot was confusing. Also, it refers to things that happened in the previous book, which I haven't read, so that didn't help. It did not work for a story time book, either. I think it would have been ok for older kids (except for the somewhat confusing plot), but not what I was using it for. It still wasn't spectacular.

[Molly Daybert · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of fairy tales, I truly enjoyed this story. I enjoyed how Ada chose to structure the tale in a letter format (a form so few children see anymore). I also enjoyed how the surrounding event was about the 3 little pigs. By connecting her story to these well-known characters, it allows younger readers to follow along with little difficulty. I can definitely see myself using this book if I ever teach a unit on folktales or for writing lesson someday. Overall, a very cute story with characters we have already grown to love.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Told as a series of letters between various classic tales: The three pigs are planning a housewarming and invite Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks to come. Wolf finds out about it and urges a cousin of his to join him in ambushing the party. Each letter has a different font and style of paper and there are fun details throughout referencing the original tales. The idea is better than execution; this drags on a bit.

[Fourth Grade · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the book, “Yours Truly, Goldilocks”. The author is Alma Flor Ada and its illustrator is Leslie Tryon. This book has a lot of characters from different stories, such as, Goldilocks, The 3 pigs, Little Red Riding hood, Red Riding hood’s grandma, Big bad wolves, the 3 bears and Peter Rabbit. In the story, the 3 pigs throw a housewarming party and invite all their friends…. Little do they know who’s watching…. I would definitely recommend this book to fairytale and animal book lovers.

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book at all, the fact that all the characters lived in the same neighborhood and the letters are difficult to keep up with. You would have to explain every page and make sure the children knew who was writing who and what all they were talking about. I would not have this book in my class.

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I had already read this, but I don't think I sat down and read every letter. This does take a little attention to the details of who is writing the letter and to whom they are writing. But I love the idea of fairy-tale characters writing letters to each other! The illustrations are filled with fun details that add dimension to the story.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goldilocks, the wolves, Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Bears and Peter Rabbit all exchange letters. The story itself isn't amazing and weirdly seems to have a opening at the end for another book. Would be best for older children who can infer what's happening. Also good example of proper letter writing.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written as a series of letters from one fairytale character to another, this picture book imagines many of the Grimm characters spending time together for a house-warming party at the Three Little Pigs' new brick house. The vocabulary is quite advanced in some of the letters. The illustrations are necessary to devise the plot as the party and the attack by the wolves approaches.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presents the correspondence of Goldilocks, the three pigs, Baby Bear, Peter Rabbit, and Little Red Riding Hood as they plan to attend a housewarming party for the pigs and avoid the evil wolves in the forest.

[Abby Ratliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be a great way to lead into a mini lesson on letter writing. I didn't think I would like it as much as i did and it grows on you. All the characters from traditional literature show up.

Genre: traditional literature

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute story with characters writing letters to each other, mostly related to the 3 Little Pigs house warming party. Good to use with a writing unit or folktales. Highly recommended for Grades K-3.

[Rose]

E Ada

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for teaching letter writing.

[Teresa Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mentor text if teaching letter writing. I think that even though it is a picture book a lot of background of fairy tales is necessary to completely undertand the story.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series. Great for teaching the (almost) lost art of letter writing. And those wolves have awesome vocabulary!!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is great for teaching letter writing and responding to literature.

[Sarah Cabilan]

This book was a little confusing, but i noticed that it could be good to help students learn how to write formal letters.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extra star because of how much Jolly Postman-era Shannon would have adored this book. I'd like to compare and contrast this series with the Diary of a Spider series.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun read, I think 1st and second graders familiar with all the fairy tales would enjoy this book.

[Courtney Kleefeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet little book including familiar fairy tales plus Peter Rabbit all told in pictures and letters. Each person had a different font for their letters.

[Rachel Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the map in the beginning, it's great for kids to understand. Like that it's written in letters.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute story. a different take on Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, 3 Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit and The 3 bears.