Ladybird Tuesday: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Apologies for the little holiday that Ladybird Tuesday took the last couple of weeks. A bit of "blog housekeeping" took over all my assigned laptop time in both weeks and short of staying up until the wee hours everyday something had to give and sadly that was Ladybird Tuesday.

This week though we're back and I'm restarting with a bit of a classic from the "well-loved tales" series (606D for those of you keeping notes!): Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Now, I'm pretty sure that there can't be anyone reading this who doesn't know the story of the three bears and the little girl who came and ate their porridge, sat on their chairs and slept in their beds. It's a complete classic and it's thought that the first version of it was published in the early 1800s. At that stage though it was an old woman who came into the bears house, yet by the mid 1800s that old lady had become a young girl and by the early 20th Century she has been named Goldilocks.

Whatever its origins there is no doubt that today it is one of the best known English fairy tales and it still appeals to children today. Little Miss C regularly chooses books from the "well-loved tales" series as bedtime stories and Goldilocks was her book of choice just last night. She was even telling me that at school they sing a song all about Goldilocks – something I'd not heard of before. A quick search online from her version of the lyrics suggests that it might be this one that I've found on the British Council's website.

 

I believe that the version of Goldilocks that we were reading was first published by Ladybird in 1971. The illustrations by Eric Winter certainly have that late 60s / early 70s style about them.

It's a sweet story and nicely retold by Vera Southgate, although I have to say that the version I remember from childhood has Goldilocks waking up and talking to the bears at the end rather than just running off, but that might just be my memory laying tricks on me.

I find all the pictures of baby bear particularly cute and this one of him shedding a tear after finding his chair broken actually pulled at my heart strings quite a bit. So sweet.

If you have a collection of old Ladybird books then please feel free to join in with Ladybird Tuesday. There are no formal rules to follow, just leave a link to any post you write in the comments below and if you're feeling kind link back to my Ladybird Tuesday category here on Being Mrs C. Thanks!