Goldie and the Three Hares

What happened to Goldilocks after she fled the three bears' house? According to this very funny fractured fairy tale, she fell down a rabbit hole and into The Man Who Came to Dinner, where she turned into a mop-top Sheridan Whiteside. Having injured her foot in her tumble, Goldilocks must shack up with the well-meaning Hare family until she's mobile again. But the Good Samaritans quickly sour in the face of Goldilocks's diva demands—nabbing prime real estate on the sofa and forcing Little Baby Hare to serve as a living TV antenna. What will it take to make this ungrateful guest say "Arrivederci"? Both Papa and Mama Hare's ideas only further entrench Goldilocks; clearly, it takes a kid rabbit to get to the heart of the matter. Palatini and Davis, who previously collaborated on Bedhead and Sweet Tooth, again prove that they share the same irreverent wavelength. The zingy prose begs for full-throttled performance ("Watch that tootsie! Don't muss the hair!" crows Goldilocks), and there are plenty of visual laughs in both the Hares' wide-eyed, innocent dismay and Goldilocks' overweening narcissism. Ages 4–7. (Feb.)