The stories La tells....

I just love all of the different versions of traditional stories that are available. But sometimes it's fun to go back to one of the original stories.
Continuing my bear theme (you do remember my Smokey the Bear blog, right? if not go down two blogs), I thought I would present you with one of the orignal "written" versions of the Three Bears and then show you some of the newer versions.

You'll notice in this version of the Three Bears, published in 1894 by Joseph Jacobs, there is no Goldilocks.
Apparently she was added much later.

Scrapefoot
Once upon a time, there were three Bears who lived in a castle in a
great wood.
One of them was a great big Bear, and one was a middling Bear, and one was a little Bear.
And in the same wood there was a Fox who lived all alone, his name was Scrapefoot.
Scrapefoot was very much afraid of the Bears, but for all that he wanted very much to know all about them.

And one day as he went through the wood he found himself near the Bears' Castle, and he wondered whether he could get into the castle.
He looked all about him everywhere, and he could not see anyone.
So he came up very quietly, till at last he came up to the door of the castle, and he tried whether he could open it.
Yes! the door was not locked, and he opened it just a little way, and put his nose in and looked, and he could not see any one.
So then he opened it a little way farther, and put one paw in, and then another paw, and another and another, and then he was all in the Bears' Castle.
He found he was in a great hall with three chairs in it--one big, one middling, and one little chair; and he thought he would like to sit down and rest and look about him; so he sat down on the big chair.
But he found it so hard and uncomfortable that it made his bones ache, and he jumped down at once and got into the middling chair, and he turned round and round in it, but he couldn't make himself comfortable.
So then he went to the little chair and sat down in it, and it was so soft and warm and comfortable that Scrapefoot was quite happy; but all at once it broke to pieces under him and he couldn't put it together again!

So he got up and began to look about him again, and on one table he saw three saucers, of which one was very big, one was middling, one was quite a little saucer.
Scrapefoot was very thirsty, and he began to drink out of the big saucer. But he only just tasted the milk in the big saucer, which was so sour and so nasty that he would not taste another drop of it.
Then he tried the middling saucer, and he drank a little of that.
He tried two or three mouthfuls, but it was not nice, and then he left it and went to the little saucer, and the milk in the little saucer was so sweet and so nice that he went on drinking it till it was all gone.

Then Scrapefoot thought he would like to go upstairs; and he listened and he could not hear any one.
So upstairs he went, and he found a great room with three beds in it; one was a big bed, and one was a middling bed, and one was a little white bed.
And he climbed up into the big bed, but it was so hard and lumpy and uncomfortable that he jumped down again at once, and tried the middling bed.
That was rather better, but he could not get comfortably in it, so after turning about a little while he got up and went to the little bed; and that was so soft and so warm and so nice that he fell fast asleep at once.

And after a time the Bears came home, and when they got into the hall the big Bear went to his chair and said, "WHO'S BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR?"
And the middling Bear said, "WHO'S BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR?"
And the little Bear said, "Who's been sitting in my chair and has broken it all to pieces?"

And then they went to have their milk, and the big Bear said, "WHO'S BEEN DRINKING MY MILK?"
And the middling Bear said, "WHO'S BEEN DRINKING MY MILK?"
And the little Bear said, "Who's been drinking my milk and has drunk it all up?"

Then they went upstairs and into the bedroom, and the big Bear said, "WHO'S BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED?"
And the middling Bear said, "WHO'S BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED?"
And the little Bear said, "Who's been sleeping in my bed?--and see here he is!"

So then the Bears came and wondered what they should do with him; and the big Bear said, "Let's hang him!" and then the middling Bear said, "Let's drown him!" and then the little Bear said, "Let's throw him out of the window."
And then the Bears took him to the window, and the big Bear took two legs on one side and the middling Bear took two legs on the other side, and they swung him backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, and out of the window.
Poor Scrapefoot was so frightened, and he thought every bone in his body must be broken.
But he got up and first shook one leg--no, that was not broken; and then another, and that was not broken; and another and another, and then he wagged his tail and found there were no bones broken.
So then he galloped off home as fast as he could go, and never went near the Bears' Castle again.
From More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Great story, huh?? I am sure you noticed that Jacobs story is a wee bit more violent at the end than the present day versions. Most folktales and fairy tales seem to have had much harsher consequences than the versions we read now.
Wonder why? More realistic? The better to get a point across??
Apparently we aren't worried about that these days.
Our endings are usually tame and happy.
Personally, I prefer happy endings even if they are a bit unrealistic.

Moving along, below you will find just a small sampling of the many versions of the Three Bears avialable today.

Alaska's Three Bears by Shelley Gill, illustrated by Shannon Cartwright.2003.
This book, written for elementary school kids, teaches about bear ecology while telling the story of a black bear, a grizzly bear and a polar bear and their search for homes in the Alaskan wilderness.

Beware of the Bears by Alan MacDonald, illustrated by Gwyneth Williamson. 1998.
Angry at what Goldilocks has done to their house, the three bears decide to get back at her by messing up her house, but they make an unfortunate mistake.

A Chair for Baby Bear by Kaye Umansky and Chris Fisher. 1998.
This sequel to "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" follows Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear as they go shopping to replace the chair broken by Goldilocks.




Dusty Locks and the Three Bears by Susan Lowell, illustrated by Randy Cecil. 2001.
Way out West live three bears who like to keep their cabin neat and tidy. But one day while they're out for a walk, a dirty little girl named Dusty Locks barges in and helps herself to their supper of beans. The big bear's beans are so full of chile peppers that she burns her mouth. The middle bear's beans don't even have any salt. But the baby cub's beans are just right, so Dusty Locks gobbles them all up. When the bears come home to find their nice, neat house looking like it's been hit by a whirlwind, they get riled -- and Dusty runs home so fast the dust doesn't settle for a week.

Goldie and the Three Bears by Diane Stanley. 2003.
In this story, loosely based on that of Goldilocks, Goldie, who has yet to find a friend to "love with all her heart," makes an unplanned visit to the house of some bears.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Caralyn Buehner & Mark Buehner. 2007.
In this variation on the classic folktale, a rhyming, rope-skipping, little girl rudely helps herself to the belongings of a genteel family of bears.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Split-Page Surprise Book by Harriet Ziefert. 1995.
Will the three bears discover the girl who's been eating their porridge, sitting in their chairs, and sleeping in their beds? Turn the top, then the bottom of each ingeniously split page to find out!

Leola and the Honey Bears: An African-American Retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Melodye Benson Rosales. 1998.
With a large helping of rural southern flavor, this African-American retelling of the tale follows the adventures of Leola as she wanders away from her Grandmama's cottage. Secretly followed by a kindly blackbird, Leola encounters frightening Ol' Mister Weasel, surprised the gentle Honeybear family, and learns an important lesson about strangers.

Goldilocks and the Three Hares by Heidi Petach. 1995.
When Mama burns the oatmeal, the Hare family heads out to eat. Then along comes Goldilocks and the puns and fun begin, commented upon by the zany mice who live downstairs and who carry on their own hilarious story at the same time.

Goldilocks and the Three Martians by Stu Smith, illustrated by Michael Garland. 2004.
Goldilocks is fed up with chores and homework. Can't a girl have any fun? So she builds a spaceship and blasts off for the adventure of her life. After touring all the planets (and finding something wrong with each of them), she finally lands on Mars and is soon ringing the doorbell of a Martian house. You guessed it, no one's home, but some tasty alien stew is cooling on the table. After a little nap and a narrow escape from the returned occupants, Goldilocks heads for Earth, which suddenly feels . . . just right after all.
With a terrific rhyming text that's great fun for out-loud reading, this picture book offers a wacky twist on an old favorite.

Goldilocks Returns by Lisa Campbell Ernst. 2000.
Fifty years after Goldilocks first met the three bears, she returns to fix up their cottage and soothe her guilty conscience.






Jolie Blonde and the Three Heberts: A Cajun Twist to an Old Tale by Sheila Hebert Collins, illustrated by Patrick Soper. 1999.
In this version of the story, Goldilocks is called Jolie Blonde (pretty blonde), and the Three Bears are actually three humans the Heberts (pronounced AY-bair)who live on the bayou. Mama Hebert makes gumbo that is left to cool while the family goes for a pirogue (boat) ride, with the predictable results. The text is sprinkled with Cajun expressions that are explained at the bottom of each page. The appended gumbo recipe is easy enough for any jolie blonde. This book will work well as a one-on-one lesson on Cajun-French words or as a group read-aloud sharing of a unique bit of culture.

Santa and the Three Bears by Dominic Catalano. 2000.
Three bears have a lot of explaining to do when they are caught sleeping in Santa's house.

Somebody and the Three Blairs by Marilyn Tolhurst, illustrated by Simone Abel. 1990.
In a reversal of the Goldilocks story, a bear explores the home of the three Blairs while they are out.

The Three Bears' Christmas by Kathy Duval, illustrated by Paul Meisel.2005.
After taking a walk on Christmas Eve while their freshly baked gingerbread cools, Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear arrive home to encounter another "trespasser," who does not have golden hair but wears a red suit and leaves presents.

The Three Bears' Halloween by Kathy Duval, illustrated by Paul Meisel.2007.
Is it a witch or a blonde little girl hiding in the bushes of the spooky house when the three bears go trick or treating?




The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett. 2007.
Retells the story of Goldilocks, set in an Inuit village and featuring a family of polar bears.





Yours Truly, Goldilocks by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated byLeslie Tryon. 1998.
This lovely book tells its story through an exchange of letters between familiar characters such as Goldilocks, the Three Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit, Little Red Riding Hood, Baby Bear and, of course, the Big Bad Wolf (aka Fer O'Cious). The author chronicles the attempt of the three little pigs to plan a housewarming party. Meanwhile the villains from the previous title (Dear Peter Rabbit) are still up to no good, spying on the residents of the forest and planning an attack on the homeward-bound guests. Fortunately, the surprise is on them because the wolves haven't counted on Baby Bear's mother and her swift reflexes and the two wolves lose both their pride and their fur. This is fairy-tale fun at its best. Following these well-loved characters on a new adventure tickles the imagination with fanciful "what ifs."

Who's Been Eating My Porridge? by M. Christina Butler, illustrated by Daniel Howarth. 2004.
When Little Bear refuses to eat his porridge in the morning, his parents tell him they will leave it in the woods for the mysterious Old Scary Bear.

I looooove these songs!
Let's face it....I love most of ...okay all of the songs I sing.

This evening I decided I "needed" a cookie. Fortunately, I keep cookie dough around for just such an emergency. So I got out the pan and "made" a few chocolate chip cookies. Yummmmm!
Which is what got me thinking about cookie songs.

The first three songs I thought of were these..."C is for Cookie" (a classic)..."I'm A Little Cookie" (a sleeper song but a good one) and , well, the last song is more like a chant and it's a game...the ever popular "Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar".
At the end of this blog are some good cookie recipes for kids.

I'm a Little Cookie is a great song about differences and tolerance.
A version of this song can be heard on John McCutcheon's Mail Myself to You CD.
This is where I first heard it.

I'M A LITTLE COOKIE

I'm a little cookie, yes I am
And I was made by the cookie man
And on my way from the cookie pan
A little piece broke off of me
A little piece broke off of me, uh-huh
A little piece broke off of me, uh-huh
But I can taste just as good, uh-huh
As a regular cookie can

I'm a little chocolate bar, I am
And I was made by the chocolate bar man
And on my way to the chocolate stand
I got a little bend in me
I got a little bend in me, uh-huh
I got a little bend in me, uh-huh
But I can taste just as good, uh-huh
As a regular chocolate bar can

I'm a little tootsie roll, yes I am
And I was made by the tootsie roll man
And on my way from the tootsie roll land
I got a little twist in me
I got a little twist in me, uh-huh
I got a little twist in me, uh-huh
But I can taste just as good, uh-huh
As a regular tootsie roll can

I'm a little gum drop, yes I am
And I was made by the gum drop man
On my way from the sugar can
I got a little dent in me
I got a little dent in me, uh-huh
I got a little dent in me, uh-huh
But I can taste just as good, uh-huh
As a regular gum drop can

Oh, I'm a little cookie, yes I am
And I was made by the cookie man
And on my way from the cookie pan
A little piece broke off of me
Now I ain't as round as I might be
But I taste good just wait and see
And I can love back twice as hard
As a regular cookie can

Words and Music by Larry Penn
(c) Larry Penn


And here is everyone's favorite cookie loving monster....

Who Stole the Cookies is a fun game and a marvelous song for helping kids learn to keep a steady beat.
Children pat a steady rhythm on their thighs while chanting the song.
Older child can do a pat...clap...pat...clap rhythm.
Have kids sit in a circle.
Begin the game by going in order around the circle.
Once the kids understand how the game works you can move into choosing students at random.

Accuser/Group: Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?
(name of a child in the circle) stole the cookie from the cookie jar.
Accused: Who me?
Accuser/Group: Yes, you!
Accused: Not Me, Couldn't be!
Accuser/Group: Then who?

This can go on and on until the last person or a designated person (usually the teacher in the beginning) says Who me?...Kids: Yes You!....Teacher/Thief: Possibly! and then you bring out the cookie.

I could explain every step of teaching and playing the game but I found this lovely vid at my favorite place (YOUTUBE!!!) that does an excellent job of teaching the game. The words are a little different but it is basically the same game. YOu will note that the kids are older and that the use a pat/clap instead of a steady patting of the legs which works best with younger children.

Here are a few simple cookie recipes for kids. I found these at Easy Kids Recipies
But there are lots more on the net. Go explore!


Chocolate Cornflake Clusters

2 cups cornflakes, crushed
3/4 cups craisins
3/4 cups flaked almonds
3/4 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup sweetened, condensed milk
2 cups melted milk chocolate chips, white chocolate, or peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Mix together all ingredients except chocolate chips. Line a cookie sheet with foil and grease. Spoon onto cookie sheet about 1 tablespoon per cluster.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then spread the bottom of the clusters with the melted chocolate. Let the chocolate harden, then turn clusters over and drizzle more chocolate over the top.



Mrs. "You Know Who's" Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups flour
5 cups oatmeal
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
24 ounce package chocolate chips
1 8 ounce Hershey chocolate bar, grated
3 cups chopped nuts

Cream together butter,sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and add to mixture. For oatmeal, put small amounts into blender until it turns to powder. Measure first, then blend. Add final ingredients and mix together.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets. Make golf-ball sized cookies and place them oncookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake at 375F degrees for 6 minutes.

Love, Laughter, Peace, Blessings and COOKIES!
La

No, it's not a story but it's a song that is sung each year and yet most of us know nothing about it.

The song Auld Lang Syne is traditionally sung by most of us on the stroke of midnight each New Years Eve however in Scotland, where Auld Lang Syne originates it is also sung on Burns Night, January 25th, to celebrate the life of the author and famous poet Robert Burns.

Auld Lang Syne is also said to be used as a graduation and funeral song in Tiawan and Hong Kong and as a graduation song in Japan and Hungary.

The song/poem has been found in earlier forms in 15th and 17th century volumes by anonymous authors.
But Robert Burns found a song ,

which never was in print, nor even in manuscript, until he took it down
from an old man singing,—adding that the poetry was enough to recommend any air.
About the same time he sent another copy to James Johnson for the now celebrated
Standard Collection of Scottish Songs, the "Scots Musical Museum;" and it was
printed and published for the first time in December 1796, in the fifth volume
of that work, about five months after Burns died.

Check this website for more complete information on Robert Burns and Auld Lang Syne:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/langsyne.htm

THe song is about love and friendship in times past. The lyrics in the song Auld Lang Syne referring to 'We'll take a Cup of Kindness yet' relate to a drink shared by men and women to symbolize friendship.

It is bandleader Guy Lombardo that popularized the song and made it a New Years tradition.
Lombardo first heard "Auld Lang Syne" in his hometown of London, Ontario, where it was sung by Scottish immigrants. The song became a part of his bands repetoire. Lombardo played the song at midnight at a New Year's eve party at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City in 1929, and thus a New Year's tradition was born.

AULD LANG SYNE
Words adapted from a traditional song
by Robert Burns (1759-96)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

Chorus

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

Chorus

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

Chorus

And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

Chorus

Meanings
auld lang syne - times gone by
be - pay for
braes - hills
braid - broad
burn - stream
dine - dinner time
fiere - friend
fit - foot
gowans - daisies
guid-willie waught - goodwill drink
monie - many
morning sun - noon
paidl't - paddled
pint-stowp - pint tankard
pou'd - pulled
twa - two

Same Auld Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg
Auld Lang Syne