The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! (Hardcover)

by Jon Scieszka (Author), Lane Smith (Illustrator) "Everybody knows the story of the Three Little Pigs..." (more)
Key Phrases: Big Bad Wolf

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Did the story of the three little pigs ever seem slightly biased to you? All that huffing and puffing--could one wolf really be so unequivocally evil? Finally, we get to hear the rest of the story, "as told to author Jon Scieszka," straight from the wolf's mouth. As Alexander T. Wolf explains it, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing was just a big misunderstanding. Al Wolf was minding his own business, making his granny a cake, when he realized he was out of a key ingredient. He innocently went from house to house to house (one made of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks) asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Could he help it if he had a bad cold, causing him to sneeze gigantic, gale-force sneezes? Could he help it if pigs these days use shabby construction materials? And after the pigs had been ever-so-accidentally killed, well, who can blame him for having a snack?

As with The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, (another stellar collaboration by Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith), children who know all the old stories by heart will delight in reading impudent new versions. Here, Scieszka's text is clever, savvy, and tabloid-quick, and Smith's stretchy-strange illustrations complete this funny, irreverent, thoroughly original tale. (Ages 4 to 8)

From Publishers Weekly
In this gaily newfangled version of a classic tale, Scieszka and Smith ( Flying Jake ) argue in favor of the villain, transforming the story of the three little pigs into a playfully suspicious, rather arch account of innocence beleaguered. Quoth the wolf: "I don't know how this whole Big Bad Wolf thing got started, but it's all wrong." According to his first-person testimony, the wolf went visiting the pigs in search of a neighborly cup of sugar; he implies that had the first two happened to build more durable homes and the third kept a civil tongue in his head, the wolf's helpless sneezes wouldn't have toppled them. As for his casual consumption of the pigs, the wolf defends it breezily ("It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw") and claims cops and reporters "framed" him. 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. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile; 1 edition (October 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670827592
• ISBN-13: 978-0670827596
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (153 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,075 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #6 in	Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( S ) > Smith, Lane
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a blast to read this one aloud!!, November 8, 2004

By	T. Avallone (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

Sure it's a good way to get your youngsters to start to think about the possibility that there is more than one "side" to a story, but that would just make this book sound "educational" and where would be the fun in THAT!?

This book is a delightful story that lends itself to ridiculous levels of "hamming" things up when reading it aloud. Poor, poor wolf with the terrible cold that just needs to bake a cake for his dear old granny. Even my oldest child (12 yob) sticks around to hear me read this "one more time" to my younger children.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT book for not only kids but ADULTS..trust me!!, September 29, 2002

By	Joel L. Gandelman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

I'm STILL chuckling after buying this book and reading it before gifting it to my nephew Greg, 11, and Kayla, 7. And,. as with other books by Jon Scieszka, the huge problem is: I want this book for MYSELF.

The bottom line is that in his version, wonderfully illstrated by Lane Smith, the Three Little Pigs is the ultimate story of SPIN CONTROL. This time, unlike in a zillion other versions, the wolf is telling HIS side of the story -- what REALLY happened. And to hear him tell his story (with all of the familiar elements and a delicious economy of words) it's all a terrible mistunderstanding about his allergy, his desire not to waste food, and distortions by the press.

None of this gives any of this away, since the genius of this is not only in the conception, but in the TELLING of the story. Don't consider this just a book for kids. You can EASILY gift it to friends, relatives, favorite (and unfavorite) politicians and members of the media. It's the perfect late 20th-early-21st century retelling of the story, with the wolf as the poor misunderstood victim (of the police, the media, and his health etc). Just like the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, this works on two levels so the adults will be as delighted as the kids by this story -- which could easily have run as one of Mad Magazine's better pieces.

Get it for the kids, read it for yourself...and get ready to realize what a great gift this would be for adults of any political persuasions. LOVED IT so much...I hate to give this to the kids! Kids of ALL ages will love this story, whether you read it to them or they read it themselves (so will the kids under 40 years old).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There are always two sides to every story!, May 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book. It is not only entertaining, but educational. Because it tells a well-known story from a different point-of-view, it clearly demonstrates to children (and reminds us adults as well) that there are always two sides to any story. A very enjoyable story indeed!