Blog Post 6 - Folklore - Leola and the Honeybears by Melodye Benson Rosales

                                                    Book cover of Leola and the Honeybears

    Leola and the Honeybears An African American Retelling Goldilocks and the Three Bears By: Melodye Benson Rosales. This is a multicultural versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In this story a young African American girl Leola lives with her Grandma. She is outside and asks to take a walk. She is warned by her grandma not to go into the woods. Leola is mischievous and she does not listen so she does wander in the Pine Hollow Woods. While in the woods she meets a Weasel and he tells her that she is going to be eaten by him. Leola gets scared and begins to run further into the woods. To get away from the weasel she sees a house and enters the home to hide. While in the home she helps herself to the tarts cooling on the table, breaks Lil Honey’s chair and then sleeps in his bed. When the bears come home, they find Leola sleeping in Lil Honey’s bed and Leola wakes up. She becomes scared of the bears but once she tells them what happened to her, they offer to help find her way. They send her on her way with a basket of goodies for her and her grandma. 

    This story had some bright airy illustrations, but they also had illustrations that could be scary to some children. The illustrations of the woods were very dark and showed the yellow eyes of animals. This could be scary for some children. I loved how the author changed a familiar fairy tale and used African American characters. In the story she used names and foods that are part of the African American culture and it allows children see other cultures in a familiar story. 

    Some activities that can be done in the classroom are again comparingdifferent versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Another thing teacher of much younger children can do is have the characters of the different stories as puppets and in the dramatic play area the children can act out the different stories using the puppets. In the children’s reading response journal, they can write about which version of the fairy tale is their favorite and give reasons why. They can also choose one version to write an alternate ending. 

I enjoyed this version of the fairy tale and I particularly liked that it was a multicultural story of a familiar fairy tale. I also liked that the author added different aspects the culture throughout the story. I liked her ending as well that the bears helped Leola find her way home. Other books written by this author are ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas An African American version and Minnie Saves the Day. She is an illustrator for many different authors as well.