True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Picture Puffins) [Paperback]

Jon Scieszka (Author), Jon Scieska (Author), Lane Smith (Author)

Book Description

Series: Picture Puffins

You may think you know the story of the "Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf" - but only one person knows the real story. And that person is A. Wolf. His tale starts with a birthday cake for his dear old granny, a bad head cold and a bad reputation. The rest (as they say) is history. This is a hilariously inventive retelling of the popular story which "Publishers Weekly" called the 'Funniest book of the year'.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jon Scieszka began to train as a doctor but left to take a course in fiction writing at Columbia University and to become a teacher. He lives in Brooklyn and spends his time writing and talking about books.Lane Smith, an acclaimed author/illustrator, has achieved major success in his collaborations with Jon Scieszka. He also provided the original concept and illustrations for the hit film James and the Giant Peach. He lives in New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Puffin Books (October 31, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140540563
• ISBN-13: 978-0140540567
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jon Scieszka was born in Flint, Michigan on September 8th, 1954. He grew up with five brothers, has the same birthday as Peter Sellers and the Virgin Mary, and a sneaking suspicion that the characters in his Dick and Jane reader were not of this world. Those plain facts, plus his elementary school principal dad, Louis, his registered nurse mom, Shirley (who once took Jon's Cub Scout den on a field trip to the prenatal ward), Mad Magazine, four years of pre-med undergrad, "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show", an M.F.A. in Fiction from Columbia University, Robert Benchley, five years of painting apartments in New York City, his lovely wife Jeri Hansen who introduced him to Molly Leach and Lane Smith, Green Eggs and Ham, his teenage daughter Casey and almost teenage son Jake, ten years of teaching a little bit of everything from first grade to eighth grade, and the last twenty years of living in Brooklyn...are just some of Jon's answers to the questions, "Where do you get your ideas?" and/or "How did you become a writer?" I don't know, just because, none of your beeswax, and flapdoodle poppycock and balderdash are some more of Jon's answers to questions you can imagine on your own. Jon met up with Lane Smith around 1986 or so, and nothing has been the same since. Their first book, the wiseguy fairy tale retelling, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! was initially rejected by most publishers as "too weird" and "too sophisticated". Published by Viking in 1989, The True Story has now sold over a million copies, been translated into ten languages, and been called a "classic picture book for all ages". Jon and Lane's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992) took the world of the picture book a few steps further. Goofing with the conventions of fairy tales and even being a book, The Stinky Cheese Man became a household word, sold another mess of copies in multiple languages, offended a few purists, and still managed to win a Caldecott Honor medal. Math Curse (1995) further stretched the notion of what subjects make good picture books, selling more books faster than either 3 Little Pigs or Stinky Cheese, and winning a whole slew of awards --all for a book full of mathematics.More recently, Jon and Lane have resurrected fables (in the smart, funny, and a little bit wicked way Aesop would have wanted them) in their latest collaboration, Squids Will Be Squids (1998). No telling where they might take the picture book next. Someone once wrote, "Jon Scieszka has forever changed the face of children's literature." And while there is still some confusion over exactly who that someone was, and whether children's literature does, in fact, have a face, most would agree-from The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! to Squids Will Be Squids, since Scieszka put pen to paper, children's literature sure has been...different.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who's afraid of Mr. Alexander T. Wolf?, May 11, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Picture Puffins) (Paperback)

Authors these days are constantly reinterpreting old fairy tales and nursery rhymes to spice them up, repackage them, and sell them as something new. Credit this idea, in part, to the illustrious Jon Scieszka (a free cup of sugar to anyone who pronounces his name correctly) and illustrator Lane Smith. Together, these two have successfully rendered the world of nursery-dom topsy turvey, beginning with the clever, "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!". At long last, the viewer has a chance to look past the biased press and (undoubtedly) stacked juries to hear the true story from the lips of Mr. Alexander T. Wolf himself.

As Wolf puts it, the whole thing was just a big misunderstanding. One of those events that get blown way out of proportion. See, it's like this... the wolf was just looking to borrow a cup of sugar for his poor bed-ridden granny. He wanted to make a cake for her, but finding himself lacking the necessary ingredients he went to his nearest neighbor to borrow some. Now here's where it all went higgledy-piggledy. The pig (living in a straw home) didn't answer the door and the wolf had a bad cold. By pure bad luck he accidentally sneezed the home down and, in effect, killed the pig. Thinking it a bad idea to waste pork, the wolf ate the pig and decided to try another neighbor. And so it went until he got to the brick house and was shortly, thereafter, arrested. Poor poor wolfie.

Here's what you have to contend with if you read this book to l'il uns. Yes, you have a wolf eating pigs. Which is, to be fair, what wolves do. Now you never see the wolf actually put each pig in his mouth. And you never see the pig's faces prior to their devourement. So, frankly, how much worse is this than your average fairy tale? Trust me, the kids'll get over it. After all, the book is aligned in such a way that your sympathies really do side with the wolf himself. I was especially amused by the book's take on the "biased" media. Says the wolf, the truth was kind of dull, "So they jazzed up the story with all of that `Huff and puff and blow your house down.' And they made me the Big Bad Wolf".

Aside from the great story, Lane Smith really did a nice job with the illustrations on this one. Tiny details spot every scene. Notice, if you will, the brick car parked next to the third pig's brick house. Notice that all the reporters are pigs (as is the jailor at the end). Best of all, check out the wolf's portrait of his grandmother looking suspiciously like another wolf of classic lore.

It's a great book and an amusing (if somewhat overdone these days) story. Like a good ironic twisty tale? Enjoy seeing a fairy tale creature protesting the media? Dislike pigs? Then pull a chair up and take a gander at that wonderful 1989 concoction, "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!". It's a doozy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, June 19, 2003

By 

L A Spillane-Larke - See all my reviews

This review is from: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (Viking Kestrel picture books) (Hardcover)

This totally engaging book would appeal to young and old alike. The Big Bad Wolf portrays himself as the innocent victim of a huge misunderstanding. He actually seems like a cool con man.
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs would be a great read aloud and could be used as a wonderful example of compare and contrast when used in conjuction with The Three Little Pigs.

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK for 7 year old, October 5, 2011

By 

Dianne_Avid Reader - See all my reviews

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This review is from: True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Picture Puffins) (Paperback)

This is a very good book for our 7 year old. He laughed all the way through it. Good books make reading for kids a pleasure and a skill they will likely continue.