The Three Pigs

Image courtesy of Clarion Books

Bibliography

Wiesner, David. The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion Books, 2001.  ISBN 9780618007011

Plot Summary

Three pigs set out to make their way in life. The first builds his house of hay. The second builds his house of sticks. Wolf easily blows down both of these houses. The first pig runs to join the second, and when the wolf comes to the stick house, the three pigs band together and run out of the book pages. They adventure in and out of the stories of other books where they save a dragon from being slayed. The dragon returns with them to live in the brick house where he saves them from the wolf and they live happily ever after.

Critical Analysis

The Three Pigs is a refreshing new take-off from the traditional tale. The illustrations are wonderfully detailed. The animals are personified, and the wolf depictions are especially submissive throughout. It is clear to see the wolf learns to leave the pigs alone, whereas the pigs are depicted with thrilled, independent, adventure seeking faces. It’s a great allegory of power in numbers.

Wiesner maintains certain traditional elements such as the typical European beginning and ending, as well as the beloved pigs’ dialogue, “Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin.” This story also takes us on a journey in and out of other traditional European folktales which will surprise and delight children who are familiar with them.  

Details in the style of the writing provide an interesting experience for children of any age. Illustrations are wonderfully attractive leading the story along its path. And a rewarding path it is when we learn something different than the typical pigs’ story. With this version of the pigs’ story, we are not limited to the moral that hard work is the way, but friendship and teamwork is rewarding as well.

Review Excerpts

2002 Caldecott Medal Winner

From Kirkus Reviews: “With this inventive retelling, Caldecott Medalist Wiesner (Tuesday, 1991) plays with literary conventions in a manner not seen since Scieszka’s The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1993).”

From School Library Journal: “Witty dialogue and physical comedy abound in this inspired retelling of a familiar favorite.”

From Publisher’s Weekly: “Wiesner’s (Tuesday) brilliant use of white space and perspective (as the pigs fly to the upper right-hand corner of a spread on their makeshift plane, or as one pig’s snout dominates a full page) evokes a feeling that the characters can navigate endless possibilities–and that the range of story itself is limitless.”

From New York Times: “Wiesner’s dialogue and illustrations are clever, whimsical and sophisticated.”

Connections

Read this along with other folktale variants to inspire children in creating their own folktale variations.

·       The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka.  ISBN 978-0140544510

·       Huff and Puff by Claudia Rueda. ISBN 9781419701702

Read to children as part of a unit on friendship. Let kids discuss how to be a good friend. Invite children to draw pictures of their friends and how they help each other.

After reading The Three Pigs, students can create blueprints for a house that will fit them and their friends. Optionally, they can decide on security measures. Within this project, they can use mathematics in this design. They can be given limited resources to increase the challenge.