Dusty Locks and the Three Bears

This Western-themed retelling of the traditional "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" includes greater development of character and more descriptive vocabulary. It would be a great activity for students to compare and contrast the two versions.

This story takes place “way out West” and follows three grizzly bears who live in a tidy cabin. The story begins by creating the setting describing the different size bowls, chairs and beds. The grizzly bears leave to let their beans cool and soon arrives a dirty little girl, Dusty Locks who has run away from home. Dusty Locks enters the home, tastes the beans, tests the chairs, and snuggles into the beds and falls fast asleep. The bears return home to discover their beans have been eaten, their chairs have been sat on and their beds have been laid in. The bears discover Dusty Locks and they think she stinks! Dusty Locks wakes up, jumps out the window and runs home where her mom immediately gives her a bath. (Kim Harr)

Personal Response: I had so much fun reading this book. I like that Susan Lowell decided to have Dusty Locks say a bad word. The story is very funny.
Curricular Connection: Because this story contains a lot of alliteration, this book would be useful when discussing the alphabet. In a kindergarten class, students could identify words beginning with the same letter. The class could make a graph of the phrases with alliteration in the story.

This story is about a young dusty girl who has not taken a bath in a long time. She discovers the bears cottage while they are away and tests the food, furniture, and beds. The bears come back surprised and noticed someone came into their cabin. Dusty locks runs home and the bears never saw her again. In the beginning of this story Dusty Locks is introduced to us very dirty, but at the end of the book she seems clean and tidy. The art is wonderful, it is very Western and very bold in color.

A Western-style retelling of the traditional tale about a little girl who finds the house of a bear family and makes herself at home.