Book Review on The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

Please note that this blog has been created as an assignment for a TWU course.

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Scieszka, Jon. 1996. THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS! Ill. by Lane Smith. New York, NY: Puffin Books. ISBN 0140544518

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

In this picture book, Joh Scieszka gives a version of the Three Little Pigs through the eyes of the wolf.  The wolf had a cold and needed to borrow a cup of sugar from a neighbor in order to make a cake for his granny.  According to his account, he accidentally blew the First Little Pig’s house down when he sneezed.  Of course, he could not just leave a perfectly good dinner lying there, so he ate it.  The same thing happened at the Second Little Pig’s house.  However, he tried to beat the door down at the Third Little Pig’s house because the pig made a mean comment about his granny.  That was when the cops showed up and arrested him.  The media found out about it and portrayed the wolf in a bad light, thus framing him.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

John Scieszka’s writing is frank, convincing, and comical.  “Everybody knows the story of the Three Little Pigs.  Or at least they think they do.  But I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Nobody knows the real story, because nobody has ever heard my side of the story.”  This story helps children understand the concept of differing points of view in a simple way because it contains characters and a plot that children can relate to.  The author also presents the issue of minimizing one’s actions with the statements, “The whole darn house fell down.  And right in the middle of the pile of straw was the First Little Pig—dead as a doornail.  It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw.  So I ate it up.”  The issue of blaming others for one’s actions is also presented with the statements, “the news reporters found out about the two pigs I had for dinner.  And they made me the Big Bad Wolf.”

Lane Smiths illustrations fit very well with the text.  The pictures are simplistic and completely convey the actions of the characters.  The drawings are neatly framed with a white background and fuzzy because it symbolizes a memory.  The colors scheme consists of earthy tones.  In the memory, the wolf presents himself in a good light as the innocent wolf walking along to borrow a cup of sugar from the neighbor.  The illustrations depict him as innocent and walking happily while whistling to the neighbor’s house.  Since this is the wolf’s point of view and he is the prisoner, the pig is the guard and has a mean scowl on his face.  The newspaper that covered this story is called The Daily Pig.  The fun, comical pictures draw the reader in and keep them engaged.

This will be an excellent book to share because it helps readers understand that everyone has their own point of view that may be different from yours.  Different newspapers might cover the same story differently depending on who their readers are and what those people believe. 

4.  REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY review:  “Smith’s highly imaginative watercolors eschew realism, further updating the tale, though some may find their urbane stylization and intentionally static quality mystifyingly adult.  Designed with uncommon flair, this alternative fable is both fetching and glib.”

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE review:  “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.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: “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.”

5.  CONNECTIONS

*IF you feel comfortable leading a discussion on differing points of view, this is a book that enables students to vicariously experience a situation in which one views the same occurrence of events differently than someone else.

*Other books for children about differing points of view:

Scieszka, Jon. THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS!: 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: A. WOLF UPDATE.  ISBN 0670888443

Trivizas, Eugene. THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG. Ill. by Helen Oxenbury. ISBN 068981528X