And This One’s Just Right: Local Children’s Author Debuts New Take on Classic Fairy Tale

Article By: Jonathan Guajardo, Editor-in-Chief | BCS Chronicle

What You Need To Know:

• First-time author and College Station resident, Patrick Horne, released a new children’s publication called Bear and the Three Goldilocks.

• A retelling of the classic children’s tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, remixes the classic story for a modern audience with the bear taking the role traditionally occupied by the Goldilocks character.

• Illustrated by award-winning illustrator, Dan Yaccarino, the tale takes place over the course of 32 full-color pages, in a beautiful hardcover printing of Horne’s story.

• Signed versions of the book are currently on sale at the Barnes and Noble off Texas Avenue in College Station.

In the era of the “iPad kid,” it can often be hard for parents to translate the classic stories that they heard growing up for their inquisitive modern children. While some might be discouraged from attempting such a challenge altogether, first-time author and College Station resident, Patrick Horne, attempted just such a feat with his new children's publication from Holiday House, Bear and the Three Goldilocks.

Horne takes the familiar tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and flips it on its head, crafting a narrative in which the bear takes on the role traditionally occupied by the precocious child, Goldilocks. Instead of the human child invading the majestic mammals' domicile, eating their porridge, and sleeping in all of their beds until finding a perfect fit for her mid-day nap, Horne's bear stomps into the camping site of a fair-haired family of three. Wreaking havoc over the course of 32 full-color pages, Horne's bear charms the reader as he devours mountains of smores, bread, and canned goods. This new breed of bear also displays some remarkable talent, even going so far as experimenting with musical compositions as he attempts (and, expectedly, fails) to play the hapless humans' stringed and percussion instruments.

All of this tomfoolery takes place while the humans partake in a hiking trip and, when they return to their campsite, they soon discover the sordid state of their makeshift dwelling. Like the bears in the traditional version, the Goldilocks wonder who could have caused such a ruckus. Stumbling upon the bear, they employ all of the bear-deterring techniques available to them to no avail. Instead of scaring off the sleeping nuisance, they drew out the bear's fearsome furry family who are quite dismayed at their child's behavior and profusely apologize to the humans, even going as far as offering for them to stay in their den for the night. Foregoing any of the usual fairy tale fancies and unable to translate bear speak into plain English, Horne's family of Goldilocks reacts the way any normal family would when confronted by a group of bears growling at them – they hit the road and don't look back.

This whimsical story pumps water from a well that many would have assumed ran dry years ago. However, where others may have failed, Horne succeeds in creating a captivating remix of the classic tale for a new generation of kids. While his witty wording breathes life into this modern classic, the playful illustrations of award-winning illustrator, Dan Yaccario (of Backyardigans fame), makes the author's ideas pop off the page and into the hearts of every child who picks up the story or has it read to them by their parents on cozy autumnal evenings around the campfire. Careful, colorful, and cheerful, Yaccarino's illustrations perfectly portray the mischievous misbehaving bear as a loveable goofball of a character that kids will find both hilarious and endearing. It's also worth noting that it is easier for parents to  excuse the misbehavior of a bear cub versus a human child, which could serve as an added benefit for parents concerned about exposing their children to positive role models in literature.

While most people would not want to see a bear anywhere near their campsite, Horne's bear would make a welcome addition to any family camping adventure or outdoor excursion. Signed versions of the book are currently on sale at the Barnes and Noble off Texas Avenue in College Station.