children's story: Goldy Locks and the 3 Bears

( I know this is over done, but I like my version even though I didn't change much.)

Once upon a time there was a bear family with a Papa Bear, a Mama Bear, and a Baby Bear.  They lived in a beautiful house deep in the forest.  Just outside the forest there was another house where another family lived.  In that family there was a little girl named Goldy Locks because of her beautiful golden hair.

One day, Goldy Locks went for a long walk all by herself deep into the forest and she found the Bear home.  She walked all around the Bear home, looked in all the windows, and saw that nobody was home.  So Goldy Locks decided to go inside even though it was not her home and she did not have permission.

Inside the Bear home Goldy Locks saw three bowls of porridge on the kitchen table: a big bowl, a medium bowl, and a small bowl.  She tasted the porridge in the big bowl and said, "Humph, this porridge is toooo hot!"  Then she tasted the porridge in the small bowl and said, "This porridge is toooo cold!"  Then she tasted the porridge in the medium bowl and said, "Ummmm,  this porridge is juust right!"  And she ate the whole bowl even though it was not her porridge and she did not have permission.

Then Goldy Locks decided to explore the rest of the house and she made a big mess while she did so.  She knocked over a lamp in the living room.  She unrolled a bunch of toilet paper in the bathroom and splashed a bunch of water on the floor.  Then she went upstairs and found a room with a reallly big bed.  She jumped all over the really big bed and threw the pillows around.

Then Goldy Locks realized she was very tired from her long walk and all her exploring.  So she laid down on the bed and said, "This bed is toooo hard!".  Goldy Locks got up and went to the next room where she found a little bed.  She laid down on the little bed and said, "This bed is juuust right!"  And she went to sleep even though it was not her bed and she did not have permission.

While Goldy Locks was asleep, the Bear family came home and Papa Bear said, "Somebody has been in the house and somebody has tasted my porridge."  Baby Bear said, "Somebody tasted my porridge too!"  And Mama Bear said, "Somebody ate all of my porridge."  Then Papa Bear said, "Mama Bear, Baby Bear wait here.  I am going to go through the rest of the house and make sure it is safe."

Papa Bear saw the lamp that Goldy Locks knocked over in the living room.  He saw the toilet paper she unrolled and the water she splashed around in the bathroom.  When Papa Bear went into his room he saw that Goldy Locks had jumped all over his bed and threw his pillows around. 

Then Papa Bear went into Baby Bear's room and saw Goldy Locks asleep in Baby Bear's bed.  This made Papa Bear very angry because Papa Bear loves Baby Bear very much and seeing Goldy Locks asleep in Baby Bear's bed without permission made him feel like Baby Bear wasn't safe.  So he roared very loudly and woke Goldy Locks up.  She went, "Ahhhh!"  Then Papa Bear swatted Goldy Locks, and because Papa Bear is very big this hurt Goldy Locks and she began to cry.  "Whaaaah!" 

Then Papa Bear realized that Goldy Locks wasn't going to hurt Baby Bear, but he still couldn't be very nice to her because of all the bad decisions she made.  So he sent Goldy Locks away and she had to make the long walk home through the forest all alone even though she was hurt and crying.  Meanwhile, Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear gave each other big hugs and cleaned up the house together.


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1) I did the order of the bowls of porridge to match natural cooling rates for food dished up from the same pot at the same time.  The biggest bowl is the hottest and the little bowl the coolest.  This is not the way I have heard it told.

2) Lists.  Little kids love the lists, but the list of messes that Goldy Locks made are common messes that little kids to make.  It helps later when I ask them not to make the messes.  Occasionally, I will roar instead of using my words. 

3) Emphasis on permission. 

4) Explanation of motivation for Papa Bear, who isn't arbitrarily angry, mean, or bad like the other versions of the story I have heard.

5) I don't put the whole Bear family in one bedroom nor in three like the other versions of the story I have heard.  I made the sleeping arrangements like home.

6)  This is Caroline's favorite story (she is starting to transition to Daniel and the Lion's Den)  and even though I get tired of telling it every night, I love it at the end when she wants her hug and she asks if I am her Papa Bear or alternately if she is my Baby Bear.  That is definitely the best part.