Goldilocks and the Six Simple Machines by Lois Wickstrom

• 04/17/2020
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GOLDILOCKS AND THE SIX SIMPLE MACHINES
Lois Wickstrom
Illustrated by Nicole Hehn
Gripper Products/Look Under Rocks (2020)
ISBN 9780916176457
Reviewed by Lydia (age 5) for Reader Views Kids (4/20)

In “Goldilocks and the Six Simple Machines” by Lois Wickstrom, the fairytale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears is told a little differently. The story starts with the bears at home, and baby bear wants to fly a flag in their front yard. Baby bear is too small, but she wants to do it herself, so the family takes a walk to think about how she can do it when she can’t reach the top.

While the bears are away, Goldilocks rides to their house on her bike. Goldilocks wants to eat some of the bears’ porridge, but it is too hot. She sees some milk and tries to pour the milk out from different angles until she gets it right. Then she fixes the bears’ wobbly table. Then she fixes baby bears’ creaky chair. Then she takes a nap in mama bear’s bed. When the bear family gets home, they see that all of their things have been fixed! Unlike Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks isn’t scared of the bears and the bears don’t scare Goldilocks away in this story. Goldilocks helps baby bear with her flag at the end of the story, and everyone is happy. I like this version of the story because it teaches different things instead of just being a story. I think kids of all ages will like this story, and older kids can learn how to fix things like Goldilocks does. Maybe when I’m bigger I can fix things too.

A Note from Mom: This is a unique version of the fairy tale that will be liked by all kids. It is fun to read books that are both entertaining and educational to my kids because of the added benefit. There are other books in this “educational” series that will be worth checking out, too. I like that the six simple machines are all included and described at the end of book to describe what they are and how they are used in the story, as well as what they can be compared to in the world (i.e. lever, like with a hammer pulling out a nail or a seesaw).