The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!

As told to Jon Scieszka; Illustrated by Lane Smith

Scieszka, Jon, A. Wolf, and Lane Smith. 1991. The true story of the 3 little pigs. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0-140-54451-8.

Told from a first person narrative by the wolf; Alexander T. Wolf shares his side of the story, recounting “how it really” happened. It all started, he explained, when he innocently visited his neighbors to borrow a cup of sugar. All he wanted to do was bake his granny a cake for her birthday. If only he did not have that awful sneezing cold. It wasn’t his fault that the first pig built his house out of straw or that the second built his with sticks. He sneezed once and there the homes went; right on top of the pigs. Would you leave good food to spoil? What about that last pig? Haven’t we all been taught to be polite?

The main characters in this fractured folktale remain true to those portrayed in the original version of the story; the wolf and the three pigs. The twist however, is in who is portrayed as good and who is portrayed as evil. According to Wolf, he was framed. It was the news reporters, who in an attempt to spice up the truth portrayed him as the “evil one” when in fact, the three pigs were bad and he was innocent. The author does not over complicate the characters. He creates them as anthropomorphic animals, representative of basic human traits. The language that the author has utilized throughout the tale brings the characters to life.

The plot consist of a formulaic pattern; it incorporates the literary “rule of three”, specifically used in this tale to contrast between the three homes. The plot draws the audience in with each conflict; building and building on the last until the final resolution, which comes quickly and surprisingly. The setting of the tale is established quickly and rather paradoxically; “Way back in Once Upon a Time time.” Through the illustrations and the tale there is a sense of time passing however, it is vague. The description of the pig’s home, their behavior, and the health of the wolf helps in understanding the wolf and with making his “side” of the story believable.

The tale is a parody of the original version of the tale and is told from the perspective of the wolf. The theme of this tale can be interpreted to be “there are always two sides to a story”. It can also be inferred from the ending of the tale that many times the truth is exaggerated to make the story much more exciting. Due to the nature of this tale, I would not say that the themes are “big, global messages” however, they can be subtly inferred. The fractured tale also deviates from the “happily ever after” ending when the wolf, which is the representation of goodness in this tale, is “framed” and goes to jail.

The author does a great job in paradoxically capturing his voice through that of the wolf. He also manages to maintain the integrity of the original tale through the characters, plot, setting and style. There is a strong sense of rhythm as the author sparingly incorporates a rhyming scene. The illustrations complement the story and are very appropriate. I would also say that they extend the tale. The portrayal of the wolf is one of kindness. He is wearing glasses, a nice shirt with a bowtie and pants. His character through the illustrations resembles that of a “school teacher”. As the wolf is describing his diet and comparing that to a cheeseburger, which a human may consume; the illustrations extends the story by illustrating a cheeseburger with several layers. Sandwiched between the layers one can see “bunnie” ears; the illustration created visualization to the comparison. The illustration moves the tale along; the wolf can be seen whistling along as he walks to the first pig’s home. The wolf’s nose becomes the focus of the illustration as the wolf felt the sneeze about to occur. When the wolf does sneeze that “great sneeze”; the illustration becomes the focus. I would say that although the illustrations do have a cartoon appearance; their design and layout work appropriately and in conjunction with the story.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS:
Book Awards: ALA Notable Book; School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; The New York Times Best Book of the Year; Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Film Awards: ALA Notable Video; KidsFirst! Short Film Award
Audio Awards: ALA Notable Recording

EDITORIAL REVIEWS:
"Designed with uncommon flair," said PW, this "gaily newfangled version of the classic tale" takes sides with the villain. "Imaginative watercolors eschew realism, further updating the tale." --Publishers Weekly

Victim for centuries of a bad press, Alexander ("You can call me Al") T. Wolf steps forward at last to give his side of the story. Trying to borrow a cup of sugar to make a cake for his dear old Granny, Al calls on his neighbors--and can he help it if two of them built such shoddy houses? A couple of sneezes, a couple of dead pigs amidst the wreckage and, well, it would be shame to let those ham dinners spoil, wouldn't it? And when the pig in the brick house makes a nasty comment about Granny, isn't it only natural to get a little steamed? It's those reporters from the Daily Pig that made Al out to be Big and Bad, that caused him to be arrested and sent to the (wait for it) Pig Pen. "I was framed," he concludes mournfully. 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. --School Library Journal

Did the story of the three little pigs ever seem slightly biased to you? All that huffing and puffing--could one wolf really be so unequivocally evil? Finally, we get to hear the rest of the story, "as told to author Jon Scieszka," straight from the wolf's mouth. As Alexander T. Wolf explains it, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing was just a big misunderstanding. Al Wolf was minding his own business, making his granny a cake, when he realized he was out of a key ingredient. He innocently went from house to house to house (one made of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks) asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Could he help it if he had a bad cold, causing him to sneeze gigantic, gale-force sneezes? Could he help it if pigs these days use shabby construction materials? And after the pigs had been ever-so-accidentally killed, well, who can blame him for having a snack? --Amazon.com Review

CONNECTIONS-Activities:
Generate discussion groups with older children: Compare both perspectives; the three pigs versus the wolf. Which perspective do you believe to be true and why?

Introduce the concept of versions to younger children by having them color a picture with pre-chosen colors then have them color the same picture with different colors.