Goldilocks: Wanted Dead or Alive

by Chris Colfer, Jon Proctor (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

This graphic novel, set in the Land of Stories, gives readers a look at the origins of Goldilocks before she meets Alex and Conner in the beloved fantasy series. An outlaw at heart, Goldilocks takes action with her ragtag group of friends when the Dwarf Forest is threatened by the Charming brothers. Devoted fans of the Land of Stories series will love this richly illustrated tale, and new readers will be sure to pick up the rest of the series.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer comes a graphic novel in the Land of Stories series featuring Goldilocks—as you've never seen her before!

When we first meet her in The Land of Stories:The Wishing Spell, Goldilocks is a beautiful and tough-as-nails outlaw. Discover her origin story and more in this brand new, lushly illustrated full-color graphic novel, as she takes you on adventures where she may or may not break a few laws along the way.

Once upon a time, the kingdoms of the fairy-tale world lived in perfect harmony under the guidance of the Happily Ever After Assembly. But not all creatures and territories have been invited to this peaceful union. Monsters and criminals have found refuge in the Dwarf Forests, a land without rulers or law. When a plot by the Charming brothers is unveiled and threatens to push society's unwanted from their homes, the fairy-tale world's harmony and Goldilocks' home are put in jeopardy . . .

New and returning fans of the Land of Stories will fall in love with the adventures of Goldilocks before she met Alex and Conner Bailey. Fans will recognize familiar characters including Porridge, Jack, and Queen Red Riding Hood; and a ragtag team of misfits is introduced, including Puss in Boots, Little Miss Muffet, Pinocchio, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316355957
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	06/29/2021
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	122,711
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Chris Colfer is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and Golden Globe-winning actor. He was honored as a member of the TIME 100, Time magazine's annual list of the one hundred most influential people in the world, and his books include Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal, The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns, and The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning and the #1 New York Times bestseller A Tale of Magic . . .

Editorial Reviews

05/03/2021

This graphic novel spin-off of Colfer’s the Land of Stories series centers Goldilocks in an unevenly built origin story. On the run since childhood for vandalizing the Three Bears’ home, blond Goldilocks lives in the lawless Dwarf Forests with her horse Porridge and friend Hagetta, a red-haired witch. When Prince Chance Charming—husband to Cinderella, sibling to Snow White and Sleeping Beauty’s princes—determines to conquer the Dwarf Forests “and drive out all the monsters inhabiting the land,” Goldilocks struggles to rally her community of outcasts to defend their home, though Puss in Boots, the Gingerbread Man, Pinocchio, and brown-skinned Miss Muffet answer the call. Moving from one wordy conversation to the next, the story is most enjoyable when Proctor lets loose in wordless action sequences showcasing sword-wielding Goldilocks’s physical prowess. Though full-color art with strong lines carries the story forward, inconsistent cartooning, especially in the majority-white cast’s faces, leaves critical moments with little emotion. Colfer’s series has found success in prose, but its transition to sequential storytelling feels like little more than a series of caricatures—a world full of figures that readers will recognize but barely come to know. Ages 8–12. (June)

Publishers Weekly