Traditional Literature

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
By Al. Wolf
As told by John Scieszka


Scieszka, John. 1991. THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS! BY A. WOLF. Ill. by Lane Smith. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-590-44357-7.

PLOT SUMMARY
This entertaining version of "The Three Little Pigs" is told from an unlikely perspective - the wolf's! Alexander T. Wolf, or A. Wolf, beings this book with a short introduction that lets the reader in on the purpose of the book, which is to tell his side of the story. He begins by claiming that he merely wanted a cup of sugar to bake a birthday cake for his granny. It was an unfortunate coincidence that he also had a terrible cold at the time. He insists that the pigs were rude and refused to share sugar with him, and that mere sneezes caused the first 2 houses to fall down. The first two pigs were "dead as door nails" when he found them in the rubble. Not being wasteful, he ate them. He was arrested throwing a fit at the third pig's house because the pig had insulted his granny.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book is always a hit with grade school students. The wolf's antics make them laugh while showing that, like all tales (whether from a book or the playground), there are always two sides to every story. Of course, the wolf is not fooling anyone with this humorous take on the classic tale. The colors of the illustrations are indicative of the wolf's dark side, and even his voice in the book gives hints that he may not be a trustworthy source. The end of the story leaves a great opening for many writing assignments. It simply shows the wolf leaning out of his jail cell with a cup in his hand, after stating he was framed, with the words, "But maybe you could loan me a cup of sugar."

REVIEW EXCERPTS
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas
The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall
Winner - Maryland Black-eyed Susan Book Award for Picture Books, 1991

CONNECTIONS
This book is a wonderful resource for teaching the writing trait of VOICE. It also can be very handy in teaching character traits and analyzing characters.
A comparison of other versions of Three Little Pigs can also be made with this book. This can be done through discussion, Venn Diagrams, or any other age-appropriate form of analysis.