Wiesner, David. The Three Little Pigs. Clarion Books, 2001.
The Three Little Pigs is written and illustrated by David Wiesner. It is the winner of 2002 Caldecott medal. The book tells the story of the 3 little pigs with a twist. The book is geared toward preschool through grades 2 but readers beyond grade 2 will likely enjoy its wit.
The story starts with the introduction of the first of the 3 pigs. Pig 1 built his house out of straw. The wolf approached the pig’s house. When the pig does not let the wolf enter, the wolf blows the house down.. and the pig out of the story. The second pig built his house out of sticks. The wolf came to Pig 2’s house and just before the wolf threatened to blow the house down, Pig 1 appears in the middle of the spread and tells Pig 2 to come out of the image. The wolf blows down the stick house and is confused because there is no pig! Pigs 1 and 2 go to see Pig 3 and show him how to get out away from the wolf by knocking down the cartoon squares and entering a new reality. They fold up the story pages into paper airplanes and fly. The plane crashes and they find themselves in the new world of “Hey Diddle, Diddle.” They leave that world and head into the world with a big dragon and head back out, taking the dragon with them. The five character friends explore the different story squares. They find the spread with Pig 3’s brick house and admire it. They decide to go home to their story. They find the spread with wolf knocking on Pig 3’s door. All 5 friends answer the door and change the words to end the story with them living “happily ever aft…”
The book is about 8.5” x 11” landscaped which feels very comfortable across one or two laps. It is written over 18 spreads. The artist is really skilled at showing details and demonstrating the change in the story lines or “worlds.” The images are created in realistic style and detailed and colorful. The artist changes the pig’s look by adding lines to the pig. This makes the pig look realistic and shows the reader something is different. He does the same for the other characters when they leave their stories.
The Three Little Pigs is a great storytime read. It is an alternate version to the classic one.
Book Notes 