SLIS 5420 Module 6 - Picture Books

SLIS 5420 Module 6 Picture Books

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

By Jon Scieska

Bibliography

Scieszka, Jon. (1989). The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. New York, NY: Viking.

Summary

This is the story of the Three Little Pigs told from the Wolf’s view of how things happened.  He claims to only have had a cold and having to sneeze as he walks from one pig’s door to the next, saying that he was only trying to borrow a cup of sugar to make a cake for his grandmother.  He claims that he was framed.

Reviews

Peters, J., Jones, T. E., Toth, L., & Suhr, V. J. (1989). The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Book). School Library Journal, 35(14), 108.

Gr 1 Up--Victim for centuries of a bad press, Alexander (``You can call me Al'') T. Wolf steps forward at last to give his side of the story. Trying to borrow a cup of sugar to make a cake for his dear old Granny, Al calls on his neighbors--and can he help it if two of them built such shoddy houses? A couple of sneezes, a couple of dead pigs amidst the wreckage and, well, it would be shame to let those ham dinners spoil, wouldn't it? And when the pig in the brick house makes a nasty comment about Granny, isn't it only natural to get a little steamed? It's those reporters from the Daily Pig that made Al out to be Big and Bad, that caused him to be arrested and sent to the (wait for it) Pig Pen. ``I was framed,'' he concludes mournfully. Smith's dark tones and sometimes shadowy, indistinct shapes recall the distinctive illustrations he did for Merriam's Halloween ABC (Macmillan, 1987); the bespectacled wolf moves with a rather sinister bonelessness, and his juicy sneezes tear like thunderbolts through a dim, grainy world. It's the type of book that older kids (and adults) will find very funny.--John Peters, New York Public Library

Kirkus Reviews (1989)

One of life's more important lessons is that a second view of the same events may yield a story that is entirely different from another but equally "true." As Alexander Wolf tells his story, he was innocently trying to borrow a cup of sugar from a little pig when he sneezed so hard that the pig's obviously inadequate straw house fell down and killed him, so--rather than let all that good ham go to waste--the wolf ate him. But when the third little pig, safe in his brick house, not only refused to discuss loaning sugar but was rude about the wolf's Granny, the wolf tried to force the door, the pig called the cops, and the wolf was jailed--complaining that reporters blew the story all out of proportion and that he was framed. Scieszka carries off this revision with suitably mordant humor, ably reflected in Smith's dark, elegantly sophisticated illustrations. Not for little children, but middle grades and up should be entertained while taking the point about the unreliability of witnesses.

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My Thoughts

This is a clever take on Three Little Pigs.  It has some sophisticated humor that an older audience would understand, but is simplistic enough for young children.  The illustrations are entertaining, almost satirical.

How it can be used

This could be paired with the orginal version and, for younger students, a Venn diagram could be used to compare and contrast.  For older kids,  students could choose nother fairy tale and rewrite it from another character’s point of view.