Module 2: The Three Pigs

Book Summary

The Three Pigs starts just as you think it would with the Big Bad Wolf huffing and puffing away. Only this time, after a pig or two gets gobbled up, they’ve had enough. The three of them just walk off the page and out of the story. They fold up a page from the story into a paper airplane, hop on and fly off! Then they find themselves in several other traditional tales. They make several friends from the other stories, including a misunderstood dragon and decide to go home to the house made of bricks.  When the Big Bad Wolf comes puffing, the dragon opens the door and the words just fall off the page. Then the story ends as everyone, including the wolf, is called in to dinner.

APA Reference of Book

Wiesner, D. (2001). The three pigs. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Impressions

This book manipulates the language and styles of traditional folktales. All children will enjoy this book, but I think older children will get more out of the twists and humor. The plot will capture the interest of older readers as the main characters - the three little pigs - reject their fate and leave their story, wandering through other traditional tales before returning to their own. Most older children will be caught off guard as the story shifts from traditional perspectives and reading to the end will be irresistible for them. There is so much to notice, such as the illustration styles changing along with the stories the pigs enter. That the pigs take their fate into their own hands and make a story to suit themselves will send a message of empowerment to young readers. 

Professional Review

Children will delight in the changing perspectives, the effect of the wolf's folded-paper body, and the whole notion of the interrupted narrative. Wiesner's luxurious use of white space with the textured pigs zooming in and out of view is fresh and funny. They wander through other stories--their bodies changing to take on the new style of illustration as they enter the pages-emerging with a dragon and the cat with a fiddle. The cat draws their attention to a panel with a brick house, and they all sit down to soup, while one of the pigs reconstructs the text. Witty dialogue and physical comedy abound in this inspired retelling of a familiar favorite.

Lukehart, W. (April 2001). The Three Pigs [Review of the book The Three Pigs]. School 
     Library Journal, 47(4), 126. Retrieved from www.slj.com

Library Uses

This book, along with other versions of this classic tale would make an excellent book talk. As a supplemental lesson to assist teachers for older students, you could use this and the other versions during a library lesson for exploring plot and perspective. Moving from the original tale, through the Disney version where the pigs don’t die, discussing the plot changes and their significance, we would then consider The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Scieszka, 1996), and then finally, The Three Pigs.