Review of Traditional Literature Book #1: THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS by Jon Scieska

 

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

 Review by Lucinda Zamora-Wiley

1.     Bibliography:

Scieska, John. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. Illustrated by Lane Smith, New York: Puffin

Books, 1996. ISBN-13 : 978-0140544510

2.     Brief plot summary:

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs is a hilarious retelling of the traditional tale of The Three Little Pigs—told from an entirely different point-of-view—that of the Wolf. He starts off explaining that he’s been entirely misunderstood, and the traditional story of The Three Little Pigs was documented entirely incorrectly, so he is here to set the record straight! He tells the story of how he was simply trying to bake his “dear old granny” a delicious birthday cake when he realizes he was out of sugar. So he goes to his neighbor’s house—that of the pig whose house was made of straw—to borrow a cup of sugar. While waiting at his neighbor’s door, he sneezes a huge sneeze…accidentally, of course! And it just so happens that when the dust cleared post-sneeze,  the little pig was “dead as a doornail,” and since Mr. Wolf was taught to never waste a perfectly good meal, the only thing to do was the right thing: eat the dead pig. Mr. Wolf reminds his readers that it was like leaving a perfectly good cheeseburger out to rot for no good reason, which is his way of trying to persuade the reader of how normal was his impulse to eat the dead pig…waste not, want not (wink, wink). Mr. Wolf is still in need of his cup of sugar, so he goes on to the next neighbor to borrow, only to find that this neighbor is the brother of the pig he just ate—and whose house is made of sticks. It’s a repeat of the “accidental sneeze,” and the result is the same too; this piggy ends up “dead as a doornail” just like the first. And again, waste not, want not. Still in need of his cup of sugar, he takes his full belly to his third neighbor’s house—Piggy #3 and the brother of the deceased, whose house is made of bricks. Now, according to Mr. Wolf, this third piggy is downright offensive and refuses to share a cup of sugar, telling Wolf that his “…granny can go sit on a pin!” In a rage, Wolf begins to huff and puff—only to be caught by the police and arrested for making such a big scene. And in the telling of Wolf’s story, the newspaper people got it all wrong, jazzing up the “real” story and turning Mr. Wolf into the notorious “Big Bad Wolf.” The rest, as he says, is history!

3.     Critical analysis with specific literary considerations pertinent to each genre:

What a wonderful retelling of the traditional tale of The Three Little Pigs!  Scieska’s decision to reinvent the story from Mr. Wolf’s perspective is sheer genius, and young readers will be unable to resist the belly laughs that come from Mr. Wolf’s “setting the record straight.” The style of language used is informal and persuasive, and the tone is light and funny (even as the Wolf discusses eating the pigs, who are already dead, of course!). Illustrations are spot on, enhancing the storyline beautifully and adding plausibility to Mr. Wolf’s story, as he looks gentle and unassuming with his warm, bespectacled face. Scieska turns the archetype of the villain on its head and leaves students with much to ponder. The theme of good triumphing over evil is left open to interpretation now that young readers have been given a different point of view to consider. So a new “moral of the story” is left for students to ponder: that of ensuring that they have all the facts straight when rendering a judgment on someone or something. It’s important—especially in this day and age—for students to learn to think deeply about how perspective and bias can shape “truth” in our everyday lives. And what better way to have students think deeply about truth than through the lens of this light-hearted and hilarious alternative tale of The Three Little Pigs?!?

4.     Awards won (if any) and review excerpt(s) (from Horn Book, School Library Journal, Booklist, etc.)

The National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.

Publishers Weekly writes, "Designed with uncommon flair, this gaily newfangled version of the classic tale" paints the notorious “Big Bad Wolf” in an entirely new light. "Imaginative watercolors eschew realism, further updating the tale."

Of Scieskas’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, Booklist raves that the author “… turned the favorite porkers' story upside-down by allowing the grossly misjudged wolf to tell his side of the story. Wiesner's latest is a post-modern fantasy for young readers that takes Scieszka's fragmentation a step further: it not only breaks apart and deliciously reinvents the pigs' tale, it invites readers to step beyond the boundaries of story and picture book altogether.

Children’s Literature writes of the book: “In this humorous story, Alexander T. Wolf tells his own outlandish version of what really happens during his encounter with the three pigs…. Smith's simplistic and wacky illustrations add to the effectiveness of this fractured fairy tale.”

5.     Connections (related books, enrichment activities, children’s responses, etc.)

 

·       Teachers will definitely need to read the original story of The Three Little Pigs to students in order to have students understand the differences in plot and perspective or literary point of view.

·      English teachers at the middle school and high school level can use this book to teach students how important it is to consider WHO is telling the story in the literature they study. Teachers can share other traditional tales with students and have them change the point of view of the story to reinvent the story and turn it on its head (e.g. Goldilocks and the Three Bears told from Goldilocks’ perspective; Hansel and Gretel told from the Witch’s perspective, etc.)!

·       To extend the activity aforementioned, teachers can “sneak in” grammar mini lessons on punctuation, capitalization, and syntax into the composition of the retelling of the students’ traditional stories.

·       Again, for high school readers, an AP English Language teacher could have her students enjoy the story and then analyze Mr. Wolf’s argumentative appeals and their effectiveness/ ineffectiveness.

·      Science connection: a fun activity based on engineering/ design principles might be fun to work into the study of this work. A fun lesson with toothpicks, popsicle sticks, and rocks might be a good place to start, and then students could study the design of some of America’s most iconic structures in history: the Empire State Building, the Sears Tower, etc.

·       For younger readers, students can make grammar mini lessons more enjoyable as students play the role of the journalists who interview the wolf, Pig #3, the police, etc. in order to write the article that will appear in the school newspaper, The (insert name of school) Gazette. Suggestions for gramma mini lessons: 1) simple, compound, complex sentences; 2) subject-verb agreement 3) tense 4) capitalization and punctuation…and more!