Will life ever be “just right” or do we need to get over the idea that perfection is never within our grasp? Fairytales and faraway planets with razor thin life zones. Interactions between humans and nature. Blonde hair and its discordant meanings: bimbo or ice queen? What’s in a bottle? What does the Goldilocks fable tell us now?

INSIDE: Editor Heather Shayne Blakeslee with a missive from Three Bears Park // Diana Lu on The Bear, and the best dogs // We recommend Everland for upcycled kids stuff, and children’s books by Elizabeth Bergeland and Ben Brashares // In “Our Ursaide, Ourselves” we look at the great bear extinction in Eight Bears as well as the ’70s feminist erotic novel Bear // Sarah Vedder asks what’s “just right” ethically when it comes to expressing a mixed ethnic heritage // Poetry Editor Joshua Mehighan gives us a Keats treat featuring a naughty little boy // Christopher Clark Spencer and Editor Heather Shayne Blakeslee team up for a comics-take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears // Ideas Editor Walter Foley on the way of water, Leonardo Da Vinci, and ‘Goldilocks’ zones // Marissa Biondi asks what path we must take to teach AI in public schools // Creative Director and designer Launa Changnon interviews Robert Sparrow Jones on about his childhood and his tree-top landscapes // Darla Jackson is back on our cover and we look at her weapons for children's folk-heroines old and new //