The Three Bears

by Feodor Rojankovsky (Illustrator)

This classic Little Golden Book edition of the famous folk tale has had many imitators, but none can measure up to the way illustrator Feodor Rojankovsky brought Goldilocks and the three bears to life.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Classics, Art

22 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky (Russian: Фёдор Степанович Рожанковский) (December 24, 1891 – October 12, 1970), also known as Rojan, was a Russian émigré illustrator. He is well known both for children's book illustration and for erotic art. He won the 1956 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration from the American Library Association, recognizing Frog Went A-Courtin' by John Langstaff.

Rojankovsky was born in Mitava, Courland Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Latvia). He studied two years at the private Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture but left in 1914 to serve in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. He started work in children's book illustration in Ukraine until he was conscripted by the White Army in 1919, soon to be a prisoner of war in Poland. Soon afterward, he moved to France and studied under Esther Averill. In 1941, he moved to the US and began a career of illustrating more than a hundred books, most featuring animals or nature. Rojankovsky also wrote books, an example being The Great Big Animal Book, published in 1952.

Reviews

[The Celtic Rebel (Richard) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful re-illustration and telling of the tale of the Three Bears. I loved it as a kid, loved reading it to my children and now my grandchildren are enjoying it. It's brought much enjoyment to many young children for years.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juvenile delinquent vandalizes home while residents are away. When discovered sleeping in a child-sized bed, the vandal fled, leaving the residents to fix the mess. Thankfully, no one was injured.

[Olivia Pollari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a classic. I have it under my favorites because my mom said when I was little this was the book I asked her to read to me every night. flash forward to my first night in college I found the same book tucked into one of my boxes with a note inside from my mom. There are so many different ways this story is written and illustrated, this one is by a little golden book and I love the old fashion feel it has and the pictures are old fashioned also. brings me back to my childhood. I give it a solid 5 stars because It will forever be my favorite.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

English fairytale from the 19th century.

There are three basic versions:

1. Robert Southey’s 1837 version of three polite bachelor bears and an I’ll-mannered and foul-mouthed old woman.

2. In 1849, Joseph Cundall changed the old woman to a little girl, with Robert Southey’s permission.

Then came many little changes and name variations. Goldilocks was first Silver Hair…. Until the bears morphed into a brother and sister with a little friend… then finally…

3. A family of bears and a little girl named Goldilocks.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not read The Three Little Bears in such a long time. Probably not since I was a little girl. I totally forgot that is how the book ends. I don't even remember it ending that way. It was a nice little book with classic looking drawings. Perfect for reminiscing to when you first read this book. It's always fun to share a classic story with someone new to the world.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 4 year old loves this book! Wants to read it over and over again! So I've read it more than once ;-)

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the version I first read as a child (as I suppose did so many others!) so how lovely to find it again. Each little (or medium sized, or large) chair just as I remember it—distinct and perfect. Each bed, just so. And it isn't only the magic of nostaglia that makes it seem so right, but the illustrations of the gift Rojankovsky, who did so many classic works, I have discovered. I love his spot-on choices, and how detailed everything is (I can tell it's a European mountain ash growing outside the house).

And I can't see a single thing I'd change about it, so: 5 stars.

(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to see Rojankovsky's early (Little Golden Books--1948) illustrations for this. The whole feel is very Black Forest German which is correct (Grimms Brothers) and of course interesting as this story was so ubiquitous when I was growing up that I had not considered any background ethnic issues about it, despite the main character's name. It's grounding and clarifying to see illustrations that place this story in the Schwartzwald with the bears' cabin and chairs, table and beds made of rough hewn pine. It makes ethnic sense of the name Goldilocks. The bears are lovable but they are not teddy bears. They are real bears. And it's nice to see Goldilocks running away from them into the deep pine forest at the end. That genuine flavor adds to the charm. I liked it.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 3 out of 5]

My three-year-old had me read this one tonight. I'm well familiar with the story but not so much with these illustrations from F. Rojankovsky. They were good but I kept feeling like they were the wrong illustration matched on the page of text. This is not the three little bears imagery that I grew up with and now I'm curious what illustrator did draw my youth. My little Mermsid Warrior lived our and is very invested in Little Golden Books classics.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love finding older books for my collection. This version I found is dated 1955, the pages are crisp and the book is in mint condition. Love the feel and look of the pages, the illustrations from this time are my favorite. Standard story about Goldilocks and the three bears, beautifully illustrated.

[Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good ol' Golden book, telling the familiar story in the usual way. The illustrations are sort of peculiar, though: the bears' eyes make them appear to have had WAY too much espresso, and Goldilocks looks a little unsettling in several of the pictures.

The best part of this book was when Mama Bear exclaimed, "Land sakes!" 😂 I love those old expressions.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dunno about you, but the weird anthropomorphized bears in this particular edition freak me the fuck out. We got this in a stack of used books from somewhere and Little One is attached to it for some reason, so again, 🤷‍♀️

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve recently been going back and reading some of the Little Golden books because I’m looking for inspiration on how to write a kids book based on a dream I had years ago. One day I will figure out how I want to lay it out. It’s fun to go back and read these classics that I haven’t touched since I was a kid.

I enjoyed this version of the 3 bears.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a classic but I always thought this was a silly, unrealistic story

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a faithful rendering.

[Tige Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books I read.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fact that Goldilocks literally suffered zero consequences is so #WhitePrivilege

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic tale. Golden books are a great read for adults to read to kids. This beautiful story is one you can read over and over. Enjoying it just as much each time.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely traditional version.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet nostalgic read- aloud.

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty average shortened version of the original tale. Not very appealing pictures though.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic story but I thought the illustrations were lacking a bit in this version.

[Mort's Kids · Rating 2 out of 5]

The classic fairytale, unencumbered with anything modern. But the writing feels stilted and the art isn't particularly engaging.

[Jacquie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This children's story is not one of my favorites to share with littles.

[Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Came across my dad’s copy of this from 1948! Classic story. Bug-eyed bear illustrations were a hit with my kids.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Three Bears by F. Rojankovsky – A classic Little Golden Book version of this story! Happy Reading!

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The classic story. I love these illustrations in this edition.

[Shannon Wick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Three Bears by Feodor Rojankovsky is a marvelous recount of the traditional tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. As the papa bear, the mama bear, and the baby bear come back to their cottage, they realize that someone has been sitting in the chairs and eating the porridge and sleeping in the beds. Unfortunately, Goldilocks likes baby bear's things the best and ends up breaking his chair, eating his porridge, and sleeping in his bed. Leveled at a reading level of 2.8, this traditional tale uses a variety of sentence structures and rhythm to keep the reader engaged in the story.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

My three year old daughter requests this one all the time. It's not my favorite version of this story, but I love the way the illustrator made Goldilocks look like the annoying beat she was meant to be.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beloved by my tw0-year-old daughter (and an almost daily request to be read), this version of _The Three Bears_ includes porridge and chairs and a very lucky little girl who was able to jump out of the window before facing further repercussions from the bears.