Customer Reviews

Dusty Locks and the Three Bears

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am an elementary art teacher and I checked out this book from my school library to read to my 3rd grade classes before they started work on fairy tale puppets. We all loved it! So I brought it home for my husband and my infant son. My 10 month old sat through the book with out a peep -except for giggles- over and over again. So we bought it for my husband for father's day. I am ordering more books by this author right away. It is just so fun to read it with a southern drawl and do all those crazy bear voices! I also love the illustrations. The characters have great facial expressions! I LOVE THIS BOOK! BUY IT RIGHT AWAY!

It stands to reason that if you're going to redo the classic story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" then you need some kind of a hook. First of all, the story's a classic lesson in rudeness. Goldilocks is rude rude rude. So why not go a step further? Why not make her rude AND stinky? Better yet, rude, stinky, AND mean to her mama? And if you're going to do all that, you'd best be changing her name as well. Goldilocks? Heck no. This child is now Dusty Locks. Now place this entire story in the West, somewhere around Colorado maybe, and you've got yourself one heckuva story. Author Susan Lowell and illustrator Randy Cecil have come together to tell a version of Goldilocks that surpasses the original. You want to tell the story of the three bears but do it in a fun way that kids are sure to love? "Dusty Locks" has your number.

Now what kind of bears live out west? Grizzly bears, that's who. So three cowboy boot wearing, vest doffing, huge belt buckle sporting bears one day go for a walk. While they do so, the nefarious Dusty Locks, outfitted in grass-stained overalls and oversized boots of her own, breaks into their home. After all, "those grizzlies were fine, upstanding, law-abiding critters, honest as the day is long, and they never locked their door". More fool they, for Dusty begins to meticulously tear apart their little home. First she devours their beans. I liked the detail that the great big grizzly bear liked his beans, "chock-full of chile peppers". Then she pounds their chairs into smithereens. Finally, she proceeds to find somewhere to sleep and rest her weary rotten little head. The bears return, discover the destruction in full, and wake the stinky gal up. After she flees home her mother loves her into an entirely new little girl and the bears never saw her again, "or if they did... they never recognized her".

Much like fellow drawl-infused picture book, "Swamp Angel" by Anne Isaacs, this book is a pleasure to read aloud. From the gruff big bear to the squeaky little bear to the southern ladylike mama bear, you can get a lot of mileage from this puppy. Couple that with Randy Cecil's inventive illustrations and you've got yourself a magnificent storytime tale. Cecil's pictures seem cartoony and none too inventive at first. But then you start noticing little details here and there. For example, why do the three bears have three chairs to sit on? To play their instruments and sing at night, of course. How does Dusty Locks stumble on their abode? She (evil child that she is) chases a skunk there. A skunk, I might add, that pops up more than once throughout this story. So with funny pictures and a one-of-a-kind narrative voice this book's a surefire winner with any childlike crew. Consider it recommended tenfold, and then some.

This is a wonderful redo to the classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Here we have a western flavor thrown in and our heroine is a grubby little girl with really bad manners. The whole twist on the story is an absolute hoot, right down to the author's syntax. The illustrations are absolutely great and go with the story perfectly. I have read this story to second, third and forth graders and they all loved it. I must admit to this being one of my favorites and I usually don't like it when someone misses with a classic. In this case the author and illustrator were able to pull it off. I actually think this one might be better than the first. At the very least, kids can relate to it better. I cannot recommend this one highly enough.

One of the five year olds in my Pre K class gave me a standing ovation after I read this and the rest of the class listened intently. Fun to read and fun to hear! A must have.

You all know the story. Three bears go out for a walk while their food cools. A little girl arrives and makes herself at home, finally falling asleep. The bears come home, find her and frightened, she runs all the way home. Susan Lowell doesn't veer far from this familiar old storyline, but she adds some spice, zip and western flair to make it special. Dusty Locks hasn't had a bath "for a month of Sundays", is pretty fragrant from chasing skunks and is a no-good little outlaw who's run away from home without even kissing her mother goodbye. She literally blows onto the scene in a cloud of dust and does her best to wreak havoc on the bear's little house. And when she's finally discovered and heads back home so fast "the dust didn't settle for a week", her mother is waiting for that "dirty little desperado" with some big surprises of her own..... Ms Lowell's vivid character descriptions and clever text, full of witty, wild west, laugh out loud language makes this a wonderful read-aloud story and Randy Cecil's charming and humorous artwork just adds to the fun. Together, they've taken an oldie but goodie of a story and made it even better. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Dusty Locks And The Three Bears is a winner and a book kids will want to read again and again.

In Dusty Locks and the Three Bears, there is a similar storyline to Goldie Locks and the Three Bears. It starts out with this cleverly created girl who is always getting into trouble and getting dirty. There are a lot of similar things that happen in the story that resemble Goldie Locks. First off they have three bears, a small cub, a mama bear and a great big grizzly bear. Each of them has their own chair and their own plate to eat from. The twists that make it different from Goldie Locks are cute and add spice to the story. Such as the different chairs that each of them have. Like the great big grizzly bear, he sits on a great big stump. Then instead of porage, they have beans. That is where Dusty Locks comes into play. The three bears go for a hike while their food cools, and Dusty Locks stumbles upon their house. She goes in and tries the three different kinds of beans, then she goes and sits on all the chairs until she sat on the small cub's chair and broke it. She then decides to go upstairs and see what's up there. She finds their beds, a pile of twigs and branches for the great big grizzly, a big hard bed for mama and a nice soft bed for the small cub. She sleeps there until the three bears come home and find everything tore up. She jumps up and flies out of there and never to be seen again. This book was very funny and is a good twist of Goldie Locks and the Three Bears. I had a chance to read it to some kids and they loved it. All the little funny changes and twists made it an enjoyable book to read. They maybe could have change the storyline some more to make it more original, but it still was successful in being funny.

The colorful language in this book hits just the right tone for the re-telling of a beloved tale, and the accompanying pictures are delightful. This got two thumbs up from our 4 1/2 year old, who is a pretty discriminating reader!

I found this book on vacation and it immediately became a favorite in our home. You will not get tired of reading this one! Great for classroom use as well.

This book was an ok version of the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, but the little girl had such a bad attitude that I didn't read it to my 8 year old and didn't even want to give it away because of that.

This was a WONDERFUL, fun version of Goldilocks & the Three Bears. I HIGHLY suggest this fun, southern twinged tale. I bought one for my 3 year old, and now I'm going to buy one for my niece it's so great!