ALA Booklist (Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

Plan to suspend rules about library voices for this read-aloud, which adapts the conventions of theatrical melodrama--complete with visual signals throughout the text meant to elicit boos, hisses, and other interjections from listeners. Those familiar with melodrama will find a few differences here. There's no male hero in the Dudley Do-Right mold (this damsel rescues herself from marriage to a dastardly businessman), and, in a twist that young ones will enjoy despite its incongruous feel, fragments of familiar fairy tales work their way into the plot. Figurative, vernacular language (This mine's as worthless as weevils in cornmeal) demands to be read in a stagy twang, and Goodell's oil-on-gesso paintings capture the genre's spirit through exaggerated characters, a dusty boomtown setting, and a modernist frame that casts children as audience members in a theater where the others are all desert critters. More prominent boo-hiss icons would have been helpful for larger groups, but creative adults will find ways to encourage exuberant participation even from across the room.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006)

As she tries to escape the clutches of Mr. Bigglebottom, a money-grubbing banker, Gracie encounters many fairy-tale folk who have also run into trouble with the villain. Though the narrative is forced, especially with its Beverly Hillbillies ending, symbols for hisses and cheers embedded in the text invite participation. Over-the-top oil paintings complement the melodramatic nature of the story.

Kirkus Reviews

With folktale characters crowding the supporting cast, a sturdy heroine sets out to rustle up some gold to save her mine, house and hand from an oily banker in this elaborately staged—if not particularly well-knit—potboiler. Opening and closing in a lavishly appointed theatre before an all-animal audience, but otherwise set amidst dusty western hills, the play sends intrepid Gracie Pearl to town in a desperate search. There she finds that evil Bigglebottom, the banker, has seized the Golden Goose, tricked Rumpelstiltskin into a violent departure, sicced his trio of bears onto Goldilocks and for good measure tied three pigs to the railroad tracks for nonpayment of housing loans. None of these figures play any significant role, however; they just act as filler until, when the banker returns to claim his due, Gracie Pearl fights back so hard that the ground cracks and up comes a "black gold" gusher. Rebuses in the text provide visual cues for hissing and cheering, but Goodell's elaborately detailed scenes will likely be a stronger draw for young readers. A good try nonetheless, and a natural for fans of the likes of Lisa Wheeler's operetta Seadogs (2004), "staged" by Mark Siegel. (Picture book. 7-9)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-The cover and endpapers set the stage for a theater production, and rebuslike icons appear throughout to indicate places for audience participation. The story starts off with a scenario reminiscent of the old camp routine: "I can't pay the rent! You must pay the rent!" As the heroine searches for gold to pay the mustache-twirling villain, she comes across Goldilocks, the Three Little Pigs, the former owner of the Golden Goose, Sleeping Beauty's spinning wheel, Rapunzel, and Rumplestiltskin's sister. When she is still unable to pay him, Mr. Bigglebottom claims her hand in marriage, but Gracie Pearl digs her heels in-literally. This results in an oil gusher that carries the villain far away and enables the heroine and her father to live happily ever after. Goodell's delightful and action-packed illustrations feature expressive characters and plenty of visual humor. Large collections and those in which fractured fairy tales are popular will want to consider this performance.-Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.