LSSL 5360: Module 2 -- Traditional Literature

The True Story Of The 3 Little Pigs!

By Jon Scieszka

1)    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Scieszka, J., & Smith, L. (1989).  THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. New York, NY: Viking.  ISBN 9780670827596

2)    PLOT SUMMARY

In The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, Alexander T. Wolf is sharing how he was wrongly accused.  He’s stating that the real story boils down to a sneeze and a cup of sugar.  Mr. Wolf was baking a cake for his dear old granny when he ran out of sugar.  He visited the first pig’s house when he felt a sneeze coming on, and he blew the whole house down.  A similar situation occurred at the second pig’s house, and both times he couldn’t leave a meal just sitting there.  When he got to the third pig’s house, which was made of bricks, the pig told him to go away and insulted the wolf’s granny.  The wolf couldn’t let the pig get away with talking that, and when the cops arrived on the scene it cast the wolf in a bad shadow.  According to the wolf, the reporters discovered the first two pigs and came up the Big Bad Wolf since the story needed a little embellishment.  At the end of the story, the wolf is still in need of a cup of sugar.

3)    CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In Scieszka’s fractured fairytale The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, he changes the narrative and puts a new twist on the popular fairytale.  He stay true to the sequence of the original tale, but instead of hearing the pig’s version it’s told from the point of view of the wolf.  The pig’s houses are still made of straw, sticks, and bricks, but how they collapse is just from an accidental sneeze.  The wolf rationalizes his actions, and has a perfectly good explanation for the events that occurred.  Smith’s illustrations are very detailed, and cast the wolf in an innocent light.  At the beginning of the story, when he realizes he’s out of sugar there is sweet picture of dear old granny in the right corner.  When the wolf is visiting the second pig, Smith draws the reader’s eye to the wolf’s tail seen through the window, and how it could cause the pig alarm.  This book is great to read aloud to students when introducing the concept of point of view.  Also, it could be used to compare to the original story of the three little pigs, and how changing the point of view makes a difference in how a story is told.  Fractured fairytales are usually written for a more advance reader, but can easily be enjoyed by all ages!  Scieszka and Smith make a great duo, and have several amazing books that they’ve written and illustrated together!

4)    REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Publisher Weekly’s Review:  “In this gaily newfangled version of a classic tale, Scieszka and Smith argue in favor of the villain, transforming the story of the three little pigs into a playfully suspicious, rather arch account of innocence beleaguered.  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.”  (Reviewed 10/1/1989)

Kirkus’ Review:  “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.”  (Reviewed 3/13/2012)

5)    CONNECTIONS

v This is a great book if you are teaching:

o   Point of View

o   Fractured Fairytales

v Other similar stories:

Scieszka, Jon.  THE STINKY CHEESE MAN AND OTHER FAIRLY STUPID TALES  ISBN 067084487X

Scieszka, Jon. THE FROG PRINCE, CONTINUED  ISBN014054285X

Levinthal, David.  WHO PUSHED HUMPTY DUMPTY?: AND OTHER NOTORIOUS NURSERY TALE MYSTERIES  ISBN 0375841954

Schwartz, Corey Rosen.  NINJA RED RIDING HOOD  ISBN 0399163549