Dusty Locks and the Three Bears Picture Book Review

Susan Lowell wrote Dusty Locks and the Three Bears in 2001. This version of the tale is set in the west with grizzly bears and a desperado named Dusty Locks (named after her habit of not bathing regularly.) Susan’s fresh retelling and witty comments such as her description of the great big grizzly being “…nine feet tall and cross as two sticks” (pg. 1).

Lowell’s bears love beans, not porridge, but follow the traditional path in the woods while Dusty is rummaging around their house, tasting their food, and sleeping in their beds. Since Dusty hasn’t bathed “in a month of Sundays,” (pg. 7) the bears smell her before they find her at the end of the book. The rich language gives this book an amusing twist that leaves readers delighted.

Randy Cecil’s acrylic gouache illustrations give Dusty and the grizzly bears life. The copyright page and dedication page have a two page spread featuring Dusty zigzagging her way out of town as she makes a break from her mother and into trouble with a skunk. He has really captured the “little outlaw” (pg. 7). The beauty of his illustrations is in the vibrant colors of the hills in the wilderness as well as the forest. Cecil captures the big grizzly’s gruff nature in revealing facial expressions. Dusty’s beady little eyes give true insight into her naughty disposition.