Book Review-

 

Bibliography:

Wiesner, D. (2001). THE THREE PIGS. Clarion Books.

 

Plot Summary:

This version of the classic 3 little pigs story starts out seemingly familiar as three pigs are preparing to build houses out of straw, sticks and bricks. But when the Big Bad Wolf comes looking for a snack, he huffs and puffs the first little pig right out of the story and into the realm of pure imagination! From there begins a freewheeling adventure as they wander and fly through other stories, encountering a dragon and a cat with a fiddle, among others. This familiar tale will never be the same old story again.

 

Critical Analysis:

The fable contains many common features associated with the fairy tale, with some fun surprises. This story is told from the point of view of the three pigs.  The pigs eventually join up with others, to travel to different stories and settings.  Once the characters leave their story, they inherit word bubbles with text to display their dialogue.  The text used for this appears to be more digital and modern.  The theme of this story is to be unique and always have fun with what you do. Various styles and placement of art are used throughout the book to tell the story.  Wiesner starts out with art that is cartoonish.  The artwork is framed and aligned to the page, but things change when the pigs decide to leave the traditional story.  The pigs become more realistic looking.  This helps the reader distinguish between the old folktale and the new story. Then the story, as well as the art, starts to transform.  Once this happens Wiesner uses a great amount of negative space.  The placement of the art is no longer consistent throughout the pigs adventure.  

 

Review Excerpts:

Caldecott Award winner

ALA Booklist Starred Review- “Wiesner has created a funny, wildly imaginative tale that encourages readers to leap beyond the familiar; to think critically about conventional stories and illustration, and perhaps, to flex their imaginations and create wonderfully subversive versions of their own stories.”

ALA Booklist Starred Review- “A funny, wildly imaginative tale that encourages readers to leap beyond the familiar; to think critically about conventional stories and illustration, and perhaps, to flex their imaginations and create wonderfully subversive versions of their own stories.”

 

Connections:

-This story would work well with gathering various versions of the fable, The 3 Little Pigs, to compare and contrast different aspects of the story and illustrations. Other versions are:

* Scieszka, Jon. THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS

ISBN 9780140544510

* Kellogg, Steven. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. ISBN 0064437795

* Artell, Mike. THREE LITTLE CAJUN PIGS. ISBN 0803728158

-This story would be an excellent reader’s theater event focusing on repeated phrases.

 

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