From Publishers Weekly
Right from the start, readers can tell that this cowboyboot-wearing heroine is a wild'un. Even on the copyright page, shekicks up a huge trail of dust as she determinedly chases a skunkinto the woods. Dusty Locks "hadn't had a bath for a month ofSundays" and runs away from home without stopping to kiss hermother good-bye. So it comes as no surprise that this spunky galhardly minds her manners while breaking into and entering the logcabin of the bear family (consisting of a "little bitty bear cub,just knee-high to a bumblebee,... a mild-mannered middle-sizemama... and a great big humpbacked gray-haired grizzly, nine feettall and cross as two sticks"). While the trio takes a walk to lettheir red-hot beans cool, she tastes the papa grizzly's too-tangyfood, burps after licking the young bear's plate clean and gets"madder than a half-squashed hornet" when the cub's stool fallsapart under her weight. Cecil's acrylic gouache illustrations addwestern flourishes to the setting and costumes, and depict anamusing range of expressions on the faces of the trespasser and hervictims. With its zippy lines and range of voices from papa's"rough gruff" growling to his offspring's "little bitty baby voice"this should be a read-aloud hit. The creators of Little Red CowboyHat add ample doses of comic hyperbole to pull off another spicyspoof. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-A humorous and fresh retelling of "Goldilocks andthe Three Bears" set in the West. The bears live in "a neat andtidy cabin in the woods" and wear cowboy boots, leather vests, andneckerchiefs. When they leave for a morning walk, Dusty Locks, alittle girl who "hadn't had a bath for a month of Sundays," arrivesat their home. She is so hungry she "could eat a saddle blanket."She tries the big grizzly's beans, but the beans, "chock-full ofchile peppers," are "Too hot!" Mama's beans are too plain. And soon. When the bears return and find her asleep in the cub's bed, thebig bear growls, "WELL, I'LL BE BUMFUZZLED!" Dusty Locks wakes andvamooses so fast, "the dust didn't settle for a week." Her mothergets ahold of her and scolds, scrubs, rubs, hugs, and kisses her"into a whole new girl entirely." The acrylic gouache illustrationshave a cartoonlike quality that contributes to the humorous tone,especially the portrayal of Dusty as a small desperado entering thewarm, tight bear family unit. This retelling is not substantiallydifferent from the original story, and libraries with adequatecollections of the standard version can pass on it.
Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 3-6. Set "way out West," this lively retelling is true to thetraditional Goldilocks story, except that the adventurer is a mean,dirty runaway who enjoys the bear cub's beans so much that "shegobbled them all up, licked the saucer clean, and burped." When shebreaks the bear cub's stool, she stomps upstairs, she's madder thana half-squashed hornet. The bear family are true to form, and theirritual, "Who's been sitting on my chair?" is as deliciously scaryand funny as ever. The western storytelling voice combines thelaid-back tall tale with warm affection, making clear that it'sthat "heavy little roughneck" who invades the bears' cozy home.Cecil's bright acrylic gouache pictures extend the rhythm of thewords with a rugged western landscape; a messy, scowling girl; andthree bears in cowboy boots, including a great, roaring fatherbear. Kids will enjoy the play with the original version, but thiswill also work wonderfully as a first telling of the folktale.Forget that sweet, goody, little golden girl. Hazel Rochman
Copyright ? American Library Association. All rights reserved