THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS!

Bibliographic Information:

Scieszka, Jon.  1989. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!  Ill. by Lane Smith. New York, NY: Puffin Books.  ISBN 0-670-82759-2.

Summary:

Purportedly told by A. Wolf, this is the supposed true story of what really happened between the three little pigs and the really not so “big bad” wolf.  Involving a giant sneeze attack and the need to simply borrow a cup of sugar from his neighbors, it’s quite the tall tale.  The pigs were killed by accident and only eaten because it would be a shame to waste them and the wolf was only trying to break the third pig’s door down because he’d been rude about the wolf’s grandma.  None of that would make a very exciting story, admittedly, so the reporters spiced it up, put a slant on it and framed the innocent wolf, he says.

Critical Analysis:

This is a very funny story that attempts to show the other side of this famous tale.  Told from the point of view of Alexander T. Wolf (Al, for short), it attempts to explain away the seemingly violent and predatory actions of the wolf.  He can’t help that he’s a carnivore and he sure doesn’t want to be wasteful.  The story really attempts to show the reality of being a carnivorous wolf as he repeatedly compares the pigs to a meal like a “big cheeseburger” that most of us humans couldn’t pass up and wouldn’t want to waste either.  Much like a good human too, he only wants to bake his dear sweet grandmother a cake and can’t because he’s out of sugar.  He can’t help it that he sneezes and blows down the houses made of hay and sticks that he visits.  Who would make a house out of such silly, easily destroyed materials anyway, he thinks.  He wears spectacles and even uses a handkerchief.  He’s just like us, right?

Though he offers up very logical sounding defenses and arguments, as a reader, I just couldn’t buy it.  I think young readers will be able to understand where he’s coming from but still not be swayed by his pleas of innocence. 

The narrative stays very close to the original “three little pigs and the big, bad wolf” tales most of us have grown up hearing and reading.  There’s a wolf, three pig brothers, three houses made of hay, sticks and brick and sneezing which causes the first two houses to fall down and kill the pigs.  Only the third pig in the house of brick survives in each tale. 

The illustrations do much to complement the story as they are just as humorous.  We see drawings of a giant cheeseburger to illustrate just how hard to resist it would be to us humans.  We see the wolf baking a cake for his granny in a kitchen where her picture hangs behind him and the mixing bowl contains whole eggs with shells and a rabbit whose ears are sticking out of the bowl.  Drawings of pigs’ bottoms complete with curly-cue tails sticking up out of the rubble of fallen houses are sure to get laughs.  The final laugh comes from him asking if the reader can loan him a “cup of sugar” as he hands us a metal cup with “Pig Penn” written on it as the name of the prison in which he’s incarcerated. 

This book is one of several that attempt to tell the “real” stories behind the tales we’ve heard.  It’s funny and engaging and very popular with readers young and older alike.  It’s an excellent story time choice as laughs are guaranteed and the concept of knowing there’s another “side” to a story and hearing it, even if it’s not totally believable, is a good one to share with young readers.

Book Review Excerpts:

“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.”  (Sept.) Copyright 1989 Cahners Business Information.

“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.”  --John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 1989 Cahners Business Information.

Connections/Further Activities:

A story time program could involve discussing other tales attendees have heard or read and what the “true story” of those might really be (i.e. – Cinderella, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc).  They could probably think of believable explanations for the behavior of the “villains” in those tales as well as others. 

After seeing what they think of on their own, share some read-a-like titles such as the ones listed below to see if any thought of similar ones and to inspire them to read more stories along the same line if they liked this one. 

Title read-a-likes:

The Stinky Cheese Man and other fairly stupid tales - Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith

Terrible tales: the absolutely, positively, 100 percent true stories of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, those three greedy pigs, Hairy Rapunzel, and the utterly horrible brats, Hansel and Gretel as told at the beginning of time – Jennifer Gordon

The three bully goats – Leslie Kimmelman

Sleeping Ugly – Jane Yolen