The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Title: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!

Author: Jon Scieszka

Illustrator: Lane Smith

Publisher: Puffin

ISBN: 0140544518

When we began talking about fairy tales and folk tales I was excited because I know that there are so many different versions of pretty much every story.  I enjoy seeing the different ways that people interpret the same story, or the different viewpoints that people use to make the same old story seem new again.  The viewpoint is what changes in this interpretation of The Three Little Pigs.  The story is written from the perspective of the wolf. Alexander T. Wolf to be exact, but you can call him Al.  The story is quite hysterical and not only written for children but for the adults who are reading it.  There is a lot of sarcasm and it may be a little dark for younger children, but I think grade school children would find it very funny and a fresh take on a familiar tale.

"The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs" recounts in Alexander T. Wolf's own words from "The Pig Pen", his version of the events that have become such a famous story.  He begins by informing us that he was simply trying to bake a cake for his dear old Granny when he realized he needed some sugar.  He went to his neighbor, who's house was made of straw, to ask for some sugar and due to his cold he "sneezed a great sneeze" and blew the house down, could we really blame him for poor construction? He was practically forced to eat the pig, who had died in the wreck, since it would such a waste of a ham dinner, and Alexander T. Wolf is not wasteful.  The story continues following the original outline to some degree, he blows down the house of sticks, again due to his sneeze, he feels obligated to eat the pig because he does not waste food.  When he finally arrived at the only soundly constructed home, the one made of brick, the police and the reporters caught up to him and framed him for a crime he didn't really commit.

Lane Smith gives us such vivid and informative watercolors in this book that it would be so much less interesting without them.  The colors are all a little bit muted but that allows the reader to focus on all of the detail work throughout the book that makes it so intriguing.  The wolf is shown as so much more civil and sophisticated than the pigs, he has clothes on and seems almost scholarly.  The pigs on the other hand almost seem evil, without any real explanation other than the fact that the story is from the wolf's perspective.  The pigs have no clothes on which makes them even more menacing when compared to the respectable wolf.  There are also clues in the illustrations that allow an advanced reader to question the world such as the fact that all of the police officers and reporters are shown as pigs, and the fact that the newspaper that slapped A. Wolf with the labels "big and bad" was "The Daily Pig." On the cover the newspaper that is shown is "Daily Wolf" which is very telling because this is "his side of the story".  Depending on the grade that one was using this book for it could absolutely lead to a discussion of corruption, the judicial system, the idea of jail in general and as an even further extension the question as to whether or not Alexander is being persecuted for simply being a wolf in a pig's world.

As far as using "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" in the classroom, one idea would be to draw a venn diagram and list the similarities and differences between the original story and this reinterpretation.  The story follows the same outline as the original in that the wolf goes from house to house and blows each down and proceeds to eat the pig inside, this has not changed, however, the perspective has changed and it's interesting to look at the extent to which this viewpoint shift effects the story.  The cover art gives us a clue as to the way in which the story will be told, it is meant to resemble the cover of "Daily Wolf".  The name of the newspaper is a clue to children before they even open the book as to what they can expect inside.  It is also a good lesson on what a newspaper is, who decides what gets written and from what perspective, and whether or not everything in a newspaper is true.  It leads us to the idea that every story has more than one perspective and that it is important to consider these sides to the story before rushing to judgement.  I think it is an interesting way to look at familiar children's stories because most children have never even considered the story from the viewpoint of the villain.  It could actually be an interesting follow up project or homework assignment to ask children to take other familiar stories and rewrite them from the villain's perspective.

I have always loved the story of the Three Little Pigs.  As a child I constantly rented Faerie Tale Theatre's version of The Three Little Pigs with Billy Crystal and Jeff Goldblum as the wolf.  Even that version of the story was a deviation from the original but it was much more in sync than the version that Jon Scieszka offers.  I believe that part of my emotional tie to this particular re-telling is that Jon is actually my neighbor.  I remember growing up playing with his children on the block and having him listen to what we were talking about.  His other books are direct reflections of what was important to his children and the children that they played with, one of which happened to be me.  The Math Curse is a story about how difficult math can be and was published because Jon was constantly around the kids in the neighborhood and recognized what a stress math is for so many kids.  The Stinky Cheeseman is a reinterpretation of The Gingerbread Man and is not only funny but is again a fresh take on a tired tale.  When I thought about blogging about a fairy tale, I imagined writing about original Hans Christian Andersen versions of The Little Mermaid or Snow White but decided against it because I haven't read any in their entirety and I am so in love with the softened Disney versions I thought it may be a bit traumatic to read their tough and not-so-happy-ending counterparts.  Because of my connection to Jon as not only an author, but a frequent guest at my parents house for parties, I felt as though I knew his stories and could adequately review them.  Jon is truly an author for children, he thinks like a child, he has a limitless imagination, he makes himself available to read to my brother's class at least once a year so that he can bring reading into the lives of children and I think all of those qualities come across loud and clear in his imaginative books.  I think his interpretation of The Three Little Pigs is truly remarkable, it is funny, adults and children alike enjoy it and it makes you think; all qualities successful children's books must have.