Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems

Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur... and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway.

One day — for no particular reason — they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then — for no particular reason — they decided to go... someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl.

Definitely not!

This new take on a fairy-tale classic is so funny and so original — it could only come from the brilliant mind of Mo Willems.

"In this sly sendup, Goldilocks (who could be a cousin of Knuffle Bunny's Trixie) ventures into the home of three diabolical dinosaurs. Having cooked up three bowls of chocolate pudding and arranged their house 'just so,' the two olive-green T. rexes and smaller brown dino lick their lips and make comments suggestive of a plot ('I sure hope no innocent little succulent child happens by our unlocked home'), while the mock-naive narration declares their innocence. They are 'definitely not hiding in the woods,' peeking fiendishly from the treetops, as 'a poorly supervised little girl named Goldilocks came traipsing along.' Goldilocks doesn't hesitate to enter the dinos' house or stick her whole head in their food ('who cares about temperature when you've got a big bowl of chocolate pudding? Not her'), and she wises up just in time to give herself, if not the dinosaurs, a happy ending. With a sense of irony (and humor) as sharp as this dinosaur trio's talons, Willems's retelling is a sure bet for audiences who have moved beyond more gently witty fare. Ages 3 – 7. Agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

"Mo Willems is to our era what Margaret Wise Brown was a half century ago....Like Brown, Willems has his finger on the pulse of what interests children most. His books are simple, not simplistic; they are clever, witty, various, and surprising." Boston Globe

"With a sense of irony (and humor) as sharp as this dinosaur trio's talons, Willems's retelling is a sure bet for audiences who have moved beyond more gently witty fare." Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A hilariously fractured fairy tale....Top-notch for group storytime" Kirkus Reviews

"On every page, the text winks broadly at readers, first pointing to and then playing with conventions of folklore, narrative voice, literary foreshadowing, and plain old common sense." Horn Book (starred review)

"Willems has delivered his very best work so far — this is a tasty treat for kids already fluent with the original, and for any fan of funny, and everybody will want to read it again and again and again." Booklist (starred review)

Mo Willems is a three-time Caldecott Honor-winning Dinosaur (for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny, and Knuffle Bunny Too). He also won two Geisel Medals for There Is a Bird on Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside?, and a Geisel Honor for We Are in a Book! His books are perennial New York Times bestsellers, including Knuffle Bunny Free and Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator! Before he turned to making picture books, Mo was a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he won six Emmys. Mo lives happily ever after with his family in Massachusetts.