TGIFTF, Thank Goodness, It’s Fairy Tale Friday: Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians

 

Mirror, mirror on my wall

Who’s the silliest blogger of all?

Why me, of course.

I am!

TGIFTF, girls!

Thank Goodness, It’s Fairy Tale Friday

Sweet friends,

It has been over a month since I wrote a Fairy Tale Friday blog post. Yikes. How long can I milk the excuse that I had too many birthday posts to write over the last month to do much of anything else?

Fractured Fairy Tale

The fairy tale I am sharing today is written by Jackie Mims Hopkins, an acquaintance of mine who is a friend of my sister Valerie’s. Valerie first met Jackie through their mutual Relay for Life activities in Houston. Jackie is a retired librarian who is now writing children’s books and doing author visits. Valerie introduced me to Jackie at one of the Texas Library Association annual conferences and we are now Facebook friends.

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Skoob

I knew of Jackie through her great books long before I met her. I used two of her books, The Shelf Elf and The Shelf Elf Helps Out, in orientation lessons in the library.

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In these books, Skoob, the shelf elf, talks about book care, library manners and the arrangement of books in the library. For awhile, there were even Skoob plush dolls available through Upstart and Demco library supply companies. I had a Skoob that my second graders would adopt for the first weeks of school, and he would join each second grade classroom for a few days.

After Skoob spent time visiting the second grade classrooms, he and I made the children doughnuts and tiny notes as a thank you for their hospitality.

I just ran upstairs to my loft to make sure I have Jackie’s shelf elf books and to my horror, I don’t! Neither one! So I have remedied that by ordering both on Amazon.com. I am sad to report one of them, The Shelf Elf Helps Out is no longer in publication and the Skoob doll is no longer being manufactured.

So sad.

Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians

But I have a couple of Jackie’s other books, and today I am sharing her fractured fairy tale Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians.

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The story begins as all true fairy tales should with Once upon a time… (or some use A long time ago…) and is set in the depths of an enchanted forest. Our main characters are three (popular number used in fairy tales) lovable bears: public libearian Papa, school libearian Mama and baby who is a libearian in training and of course, Goldie Socks.

And guess where they live?

The enchanted forest, yes, but in what? In what kind of house?

A house made of books!

I love it.

That’s where I should be living and if I keep ordering them from Amazon.com, my house will be filled with books. But this review isn’t about me.

I love that book stack chimney. And the second story is cleverly created out of books standing with their spines up, pages down.

This fractured fairy tale loosely follows the story line of the traditional version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears with the addition of some details that librarians and teachers will appreciate. The libearians’ home is more like a library, with shelves of books everywhere. Goldie cannot resist the temptation of perusing the titles for a read that is just right. And she uses the five finger rule, popular among the elementary set, to find a book that is perfectly suited for her independent reading level.

I won’t say any more to keep from giving the ending of this sweet story away.

Teaching Tool

Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians not only makes a great spring board for discussing book selection but there are opportunities to address book care, and to introduce the terms fiction and nonfiction. John Manders’s illustrations are cartoon-like and energetic. Readers can sense Goldie’s enthusiasm for books through the bright, full-page pictures. It would make a great back-to-school read (parents, teachers) before taking the children to the (public, school) library. Goldie Socks is on a fourth grade reading level and it is one of the Accelerated Reader titles, worth 0.5 AR points.

I found this cute little bookmark with the five finger rule on Pinterest. You can teach your children how to select a book on the appropriate reading level for them! Just like Goldie Socks.

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You can pick up your copy of Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians here on Amazon.com.

The giveaway closes at midnight on Sunday night so hurry to enter.

Last year, I had the pleasure of attending one of Jackie’s author visits at the elementary school in my neighborhood. You can read more about Jackie Mims Hopkins on her webpage, here. Tom Lea Elementary School librarian and friend, Crystal Acosta, invited me to attend Jackie’s presentation and it was a delight. The students in the audience were mesmerized!

And so was this former librarian.

For more information on her author visits, click here.

I always like to provide you guys with an activity to go with the fairy tale reviewed and for this book, I found a darling Jeopardy-type online game that compares Goldie Socks with two other Goldilocks books. Check it out here.

Your Turn

Have you read any fractured fairy tales? They are available for children and in adult fiction, too. I owe you guys posts on about a half-dozen books. Will try to get caught up in the next couple of days because come Monday, this gal is going to be subbing again! Yup, I will be working at Crosby Elementary for my buddy Rosa who had a baby at the end of school last year.

Have a beautiful weekend, curl up with a good book!

Hugs and kisses,