Local children's book creators Caralyn and Mark Buehner try to get it "just right" in their take on the Goldilocks fairy tale. The Salt Lake City couple will read from and sign Goldilocks and the Three Bears, (Dial Books for Young Readers, $16.99) at 11 a.m. April 28 at The King's English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City.

The Buehners will read from Caralyn's text, to be followed by a brief demonstration by illustrator Mark. The event is free and open to the public.

Utah readers may find the book's setting familiar. The bears' house is a log cabin in a forest filled with evergreens, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and bisected by a trout-filled stream.

As usually, the Buehners have hidden animals on each page for children to find. Observant readers will also notice 21st century touches to the 19th century classic: The honey dispenser at the breakfast table is a bear-shaped plastic squeeze bottle; on the kitchen counter, a familiar, cardboard oatmeal box features a Quaker bear.

- Jennifer Barrett

'Consumer Reports' helps calm nervous buyers

The May issue of Consumer Reports offers its annual help guide for nervous buyers, with a survey of the most and least reliable brands of items including appliances, lawn machines, cars and electronic gadgets.

The new survey confirms that certain brands, such as Sony for electronics and Whirlpool for appliances, tend to be reliable across several product categories.

Other findings:

* On cars, the survey finds the most reliable makes are Honda, Subaru and Toyota.

* Some whole product categories are more prone to breaking down, it seems, among them 3- to 4-year-old laptops and lawn tractors. Digital cameras and electric cooktops, on the other hand, gave sturdier service.

The magazine also provides a guide to when it's smarter to replace than to repair broken products: That could be after four years for digital cameras, for example, or after eight years for canister vacuums.

- The Associated Press

More than half of kids packing cell phones

According to surveys conducted by Stamford-based research group Weekly Reader Research, more than half of American youths between the ages of 6 and 18 own a cell phone.

* 67 percent of all kids with cell phones have used their phones for text messaging.

* More than 75 percent say their schools have rules restricting cell phone usage.

* More than half say they have needed their cell phones in an emergency.

* 13 percent of children between age 6 and 9 own cell phones.

* Black youths are more likely to own cell phones than Asian, Caucasian or Latino youths.

- Lisa Carricaburu