TWU LS 5603 - Traditional Lit Reviews - THE THREE PIGS

BIBLIOGRAPHY #2

Wiesner, David. 2001. THE THREE PIGS. New York: Clarion books. ISBN 0618007016

PLOT SUMMARY

In this fractured fairy tale, the three pigs leave the wolf and jump out of the pages of their story only to find and lead other fairy tale characters back to the pig story pages.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book begins similar to the traditional story of the three pigs, with the role of the wolf waiting to eat his prey and the pigs building their houses from the straw, sticks and bricks. The moral of the story “to work hard and diligently to build a house out of brick” is not the theme of this tale. When the pigs are blown out of the story, the added text by the pigs is presented like a graphic novel with word bubbles.  The illustrations add to the visual feeling that the pigs have jumped out of the story by changing the way they are drawn to include more dimension in the story-free pigs. As the pigs take apart the pages of the story and create a paper airplane, the facial expressions of the pigs are of wonder and delight as brilliantly illustrated by Wiesner’s drawings. The use of the empty space on the pages, create a whimsical feel that the pigs have escaped their fate in the story and are playing like children. When the pigs are found in the “diddle diddle” story, the illustrations and colors are appealing to a typical younger reader who would be reading that particular story.  As the pigs enter the dragon story, they are drawn in the same style as the dragon in black and white.  While the pigs retain their simple conversational voices in the word bubbles, the dragon stays in his story character with word choices like “methinks” and “O brave and noble swine.” A final comical point is at the end of the story when the dragon greets the wolf at the final brick house and the text appears to have fallen down the chimney with the wolf. In the last scene, there is a strategically placed framed picture of the wolf in the living room of the pig’s house as all the characters are enjoying their “wolf soup.”

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Book Links (ALA) 05/01/04                                               

Notable Best Books (ALA) 01/12/02

Booklist starred 05/15/01                                       

Publishers Weekly starred 02/26/01

Caldecott Medal/Honor 01/21/02                         

School Library Journal starred 04/01/01

Horn Book starred 05/01/01                                  

Wilson’s Children 10/01/06

Horn Book (2001) - “Wiesner may not be the first to thumb his nose at picture-book design rules and storytelling techniques, but he puts his own distinct print on this ambitious endeavor.”

School Library Journal (2001) - “Children will delight in the changing perspectives, the effect of the wolf's folded-paper body, and the whole notion of the interrupted narrative.”

 

CONNECTIONS

Hale, Bruce, and Howard Fine. 2008. SNORING BEAUTY. Orlando: Harcourt. ISBN 015216314X

·         Partner this book in discussing fractured fairy tales.

Pichon, Liz. 2008. THE THREE HORRID LITTLE PIGS. Wilton, CT: Tiger Tales. ISBN 158925077X

·         Partner this book in discussing another version of this fractured fairy tale.

Wiesner, David. 1996. MOO! New York, NY: Clarion Books.

·         Partner this book in discussing the author and his illustrations.