Gogeeochs and the Bear's Corridge.
Bobbin's favourite story right now is Goldilocks and the Three Bears (we got her the version retold and illustrated by James Marshall. I highly recommend that one; the dialog is pretty fun, as are the pictures).
Only in the World According to Bobbin, the girl's name is Go-Gee-awk (hard "G" sound both times) and should you pronounce it any other way, she will correct you.
It's a fairly short story but it takes a good half hour or longer for us to get through the entire book. Because I can't just read it straight through. Many questions must be asked and answered on each page. Our reading usually goes something like this (and generally takes place in the bathroom, while Bobbin is trying to do #2)
Page 1:
Mommy: "Once there was a little girl called Goldilocks"
Bobbin: No, it's Go-Gee-awk, not Goldilocks. Go-Gee-awk. Read it again.
Mommy: "Once there was a little girl called Go-Gee-awk. 'What a sweet child,' said someone new in town. 'That's what you think,' said a neighbour"
Bobbin: Where's the neighbour?
Mommy: Right there. The woman standing behind the fence. That's Goldilock's neighbour.
Bobbin: Go-Gee-awk. Not Goldilocks, Mommy.
Mommy: Go-Gee-awk.
Bobbin: Why hers a neighbour?
Mommy: She's a neighbour because she lives next door to Goldi... Go-Gee-awk.
Bobbin: Where's next door?
Mommy: Beside Goldilock's house. Right beside it.
Bobbin: But where in the book?
Mommy: Oh, they didn't draw it in the book. you can't see it in this picture.
Bobbin: Why I can't see it?
Mommy: Because the artist wants you to look at Goldilocks in this picture.
Bobbin: Why?
Mommy: Because the book is about her.
Bobbin: No it is not about her. It is about three bears.
Mommy: True. It is about the bears too. But the point is, it's not really about the neighbour so the focus is not on the neighbour. May I turn the page?
Bobbin: Yes.
Page 2
Mommy: "One morning Goldilock's mother sent her to buy muffins in the next village."
Bobbin: Why her send Go-gee-awk to buy muffins?
Mommy: Well, because they were all out of muffins?
Bobbin: Why they all out of muffins?
Mommy: Well, probably because they had eaten all the muffins yesterday and needed some more.
Bobbin: Why they needed some more?
Mommy: Well, because they were hungry and wanted muffins for breakfast.
Bobbin: Why they not have waffles instead?
Mommy: Maybe Goldilocks doesn't like waffles. Why do you think they don't have waffles instead?
Bobbin: Maybe Goldilocks mommy is all out of waffles too. Maybe her mommy forgot to go to the grocery store.
Mommy: That could be. (mental note to self: stop at the grocery store after work and get the damn pancakes that we've been out of for 3 days).
Mommy: "'You must promise not to take the shortcut through the forest," she said. 'I've heard that bears live there."
Bobbin: Why her not want Go-gee-awk to go through the forest?
Mommy: Because the forest can be dangerous.
Bobbin: Why the forest can be dangerous?
Mommy: Well, because it's dark and wild animals live in there.
Bobbin: Bears live in the forest!
Mommy: That's right. And did Goldilocks listen to her Mommy?
Bobbin: NO!
Mommy: And is that ok?
Bobbin: No! It's NOT ok!
Mommy: And why is that not ok?
Bobbin: Because Go-gee-awk might fall down and bump her head and get a BIG owie and the bears might come and they might scare her and Go-gee-awk would RUN AWAY and she would be scared and she would have a BIG owie so she would need to go to the doctor and she would be sad and she would be crying and her mommy might be worried.
Mommy: Yup, pretty much. You're a smart girl, Bobbin.
Page 3
Mommy: "Meanwhile in a clearing deeper inside the forest, in a charming house all their own, a family of brown bears was sitting down to breakfast."
Bobbin: Why they sitting down to breakfast?
Mommy: Well, they just woke up and they are hungry and want to eat breakfast. Are you hungry in the morning when you wake up?
Bobbin: Yes!
Mommy: And you want breakfast too, right?
Bobbin: Yes! Bobbin is hungry. Bobbin wants a BIG pancake!
Bobbin: Why there is a chicken on their roof?
Mommy: I'm not sure; he looks like he's up there napping in the sunshine. Maybe it's nice and warm up there. It's near the chimney too.
Bobbin: The chicken needs to be careful he doesn't fall down and bump his head and get a BIG owie. He needs to be careful up there.
Mommy: Very true.
Page 4
Mommy: "'Patooie!' cried big old Papa Bear. 'This porridge is scalding! I've burned my tongue!' 'I'm dying!' cried Baby bear. 'Now really,' said Mama Bear, who was of medium size. 'That's quite enough.'
Bobbin: No, it's not porridge. It's corridge. CORridge.
Mommy: CORridge. Hmm... I always thought it was PORridge. Hey look. What's that letter?
Bobbin: P! for Potty!
Mommy: That's right! And what sound does the letter P make?
Bobbin: you know?
Mommy: it makes a "Puh" sound. "Puh Puh Puh". Like "Potty". or "Porridge"
Bobbin:Porridge. Yeah.
Bobbin: Why Mama bear is angry?
Mommy: I don't think she's really angry. More annoyed, really.
Bobbin: No, hers angry. Her have angry eyes. Look at her angry eyes. See?
Mommy: You're right. I guess her eyes do look angry. I think she is just a bit angry that Papa Bear and Baby Bear are being overly dramatic. Making it seem worse than it really is. Overreacting. You know, like how Mommy tells you when you're panicking or you need to calm down when you get upset about little things, like when your sock won't come off or you want a different coloured napkin?
Bobbin: Why Mama bear says "That's quite enough"
Mommy: Because she wants Papa and Baby to calm down and stop panicking. She wants them to stop and take a deep breath, like I tell you to take a deep breath when you get upset. I tell you to calm down. Take a breath. Mama bear says "that's quite enough" it's the same as "calm down. Take a breath".
and so on. Although as I read through this again, this does present an opportunity for someone to tell the story completely from the neighbour's point of view. Or a general tale of what it was like living next door to the precocious Goldilocks from the day she came home from the hospital to the day she left home for college. The incident with the three bears was probably just one of many. I think I'll explore that angle more fully the next time I read this with Bobbin and she launches into her Page 1 questions.
The rest of the pages are equally inviting of questions and audience participation. I'll get her to finish the "too hot" "too cold" "Just right" and "too hard" "too soft" "just right" parts and tell me which porridge/chair/bed belongs to whom etc. She absolutely loves the book. And she picks up on the smallest details. Like when I get to the part about Goldilocks trying out Mama Bear's bed and deciding the head of the bed is "too low", Bobbin points to Baby Bear's bed and says "No! That's not to low, this bed is low. This is a low bed" and really, she's right; after all it is Baby Bear's bed. It's lower than the rest of them. Or when Goldilocks is in the parlour trying out the three chairs, in the illustration on that page there is a set of "photographs" hanging on the wall next to the fireplace of various bear "family" members and they all are grimacing. Bobbin will always point to them and ask "Why are they angry?" and we'll talk about how maybe the photographer said something to them that made them grumpy, or that maybe they didn't feel like getting their picture taken that day, or maybe they stepped in something yucky while they were getting their picture taken, etc.
The kid's inquisitive. And imaginative.
James Marshall has versions of the Three Pigs and Red Riding Hood too. I think I'll pick those up next time I'm at the bookstore. he has a way of updating the dialog so the story is more amusing than frightening, while still keeping to the original storyline and his pictures are super fun.
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