Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox

by Erin Dealey, Hanako Wakiyama (Illustrator)

Overview

Goldie Locks has
chicken pox;
from head to toe
were polka dots....
When Goldie Locks spies her first spot, her mother knows it must be chicken pox. Soon after, a steady stream of storybook favorites — including the Three Bears and Little Bo Peep — stop by to wish Goldie Locks a speedy recovery. But how will Goldie get well when her little brother just won't stop teasing her?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689876103
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	04/01/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Erin Dealey is a children’s book author of many genres, from board books to YA. She grew up in Oakland, California, and lasted one full day as an employee at a Pineapple Factory in Hawaii. Visit her at ErinDealey.com.

Hanako Wakiyama has also suffered through the itchy torment of chicken pox. She is the illustrator of Too Big!, by Claire Masurel, and lives in San Francisco with her husband and young daughter.

Editorial Reviews

"Great fun to look at."
—Kirkus Reviews

"This fond look at old-fashioned fairy tales and family-sitcom dynamics injects wry touches that let readers in on the joke."
—Publishers Weekly

"This combination of fairy-tale fantasy and domestic realism just might win a smile from young patients and from those adults who can appreciate the nostalgia."
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Goldie Locks has contracted chicken pox from an unknown source, although her mom asks Mrs. Bear if Baby Bear shows any signs of the disease. While she's at it, she also apologizes for the chair her daughter broke. Goldie's spots start out small in number and size, but are soon larger and more numerous. And of course they itch like mad. Henny Penny, Bo Peep, and Little Red Riding Hood all make appearances to distract Goldie. The doctor gives a clear-cut diagnosis and suggests a cool bath and lots of sweet treats, but he's a mouse so one might doubt his advice. Little Brother is even more bothersome than the spots and itch. Jealous of all the attention she's receiving, he tries to connect the dots on Goldie's face, makes fun of the way she looks, and is generally obnoxious. Of course, his turn comes too. Dealey has chosen to tell the story in verse, but the verse is amateurish, with too many awkward lines, at least one passage that is completely lacking rhythm and stocked with bland rhymes and several non-rhymes, like "dots/pox" and "six/itched." Straightforward, breezy prose might have served this slight tale better. Wakiyama's (Too Big, 1998, etc.) illustrations are much more successful. They are rendered brightly, in oil, with red the predominating color. The style might be described as 1950s kitsch. Little Brother looks particularly like the icon for an early fast-food chain. There are cowboy shirts, Formica tables, checkered-tile floors, record players, kidney-shaped coffee tables, and more. Great fun to look at, but the illustrations can't save the mediocre writing. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews