Goldilocks and the Three Bears retold by Jan Brett

Prompts
Use the following questions after the second or third reading of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. There are questions for every one or two pages of the story.

1. Who lives in this house? (The three bears live there.)
2. How are the bears different? (One is a great, huge bear; one is a middle-sized bear; and one is a little, small, wee bear.)
3. Who is sitting in the great, huge chair in this picture? (The great, huge bear is sitting in the great, huge chair.)
4. What is the little bear doing? (He is crawling under a chair looking at a butterfly.)
5. Why are the bears going for a walk outside? (They want to give their porridge time to cool.)
6. What is the little bear doing? (He is rolling over a log looking at the mushrooms.)
7. Who is looking in the window? (Goldilocks is looking into the window.)
8. What does she do next? (She goes into the bears' house.)
9. What is Goldilocks doing in this picture? (She is stirring the porridge.)
11. Which bowl belongs to the little, small, wee bear? (The smallest bowl belongs to the little, small, wee bear.)
12. What is happening in these two pictures? (Goldilocks sits in the middle-sized chair and then sits in the little, small, wee bear's chair and breaks it.)
13. Where are the bears' beds? (They are upstairs.)
14. When he looks at his porridge, the great, huge bear says,_______("Somebody has been at my porridge.")
15. When he looks at his chair, the great, huge bear says,_______ ("Somebody has been sitting inmy chair.")
16. What has happened to the little, small, wee bear's chair? (It is broken.)
17. When he looks at his bed, the great, huge bear says,_______("Somebody has been lying in my bed.")
18. What does the middle-sized bear say when she looks at her bed? ("Somebody has been lying in my bed.")
19. What is happening in this picture? (The little, small, wee bear discovers Goldilocks sleeping in his bed.)
20. What is happening in this picture? (The three bears are all looking at Goldilocks.)
21. How would you feel if you were Goldilocks at this moment?
22. What does Goldilocks do? (She jumps out of bed and runs away.)

Vocabulary

The words listed below come from the story and its pictures. As you page through the book, ask children to name the objects listed or talk about the actions portrayed. Words are listed for every two pages of the story. Ask about other objects and actions shown in the pictures as you see fit.

• mouse, house, door, roof, big bear, middle-sized bear, little bear
• bread, honey, teapot, butterfly
• basket, mushrooms, sunflowers, walk
• peeking, owl, fish, braid, ribbon, hat, dress, buttons, plate
• stirring, porridge, big bowl, middle-sized bowl, little bowl, spoon
• pillow, fringe, broken, big chair, middle-sized chair, little chair
• rug, big bed, pine cone
• looking, claws
• roaring, mouth, tongue, sharp teeth, paws
• boots, mice, pillows, sitting
• sleeping, flowers
• waking up, nose, eyes
• running, trees
• hugging

Excerpted from Read Together, Talk Together, the Pearson Early Childhood research-based program that makes reading aloud even more effective!