The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Helen Oxenbury (Illustrator) "Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails who lived with their mother..." (more)
Key Phrases: three little wolves, big bad pig

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A talented team ingeniously up-ends the classic tale of the three little pigs, and the laugh-out-loud results begin with the opening illustration--a mother wolf lounges in bed, her hair in curlers and her toenails freshly polished, with her three fluffy, cuddly offspring gathered round. The wolf siblings, amply warned about the big bad pig, construct their first house of sturdy brick, a medium which resists the pig's huffing and puffing but is no match for his sledgehammer. Their abodes become progressively more fortress-like, and the pig's implements of destruction, correspondingly, grow heftier, until the wolves try another tack and weave a house of flowers. The fragrance so intoxicates and tames the pig that he and the wolves live together happily ever after. In his English-language debut (see note, p. 55), Trivizas laces the text with funny, clever touches, from an ensemble of animals who obligingly donate whatever building materials the wolves require, to the wolves' penultimate, armor-plated residence replete with a "video entrance phone" over which the pig can relay his formulaic threats. Oxenbury's watercolors capture the story's broad humor and add a wealth of supplementary details, with exquisite renderings of the wolves' comic temerity and the pig's bellicose stances. Among the wittiest fractured fairytales around. Ages 5-10.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-"Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails...." They go out into the world to build a house for themselves only to be menaced by a big bad pig. In a clever switch on the familiar counterparts, these sweet-faced innocents use brick, concrete, and steel constructions, but their nemesis is not called big and bad for nothing. With sledgehammer, pneumatic drill, and dynamite, the pig wrecks each structure. "Something must be wrong with our building materials," the wolves muse. Their final house is build from flowers, insubstantial yet beautiful. It is their lovely scent that causes the pig to change his nasty ways and all live together as friends happily ever after. The text has the repeating situations and phrases from the traditional version. Oxenbury's pastel watercolor illustrations combine the coziness of a nursery tale with tongue-in-cheek humor. They are animated and full of personality. Children familiar with The Three Little Pigs will enjoy the turnabout, the narrow escapes, and the harmonious ending. This may also be used to inspire them to develop their own adaptations of classic tales.
Karen James, Louisville Free Public Library, KY
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (September 30, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689505698
• ISBN-13: 978-0689505690
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,930 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wolf-friendly revision!, January 24, 2004

By	Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig (Paperback)

As a kid, I loved wolves and hated the Three Little Pigs. So this funny, wolf-friendly revision of the creepy old classic really tickles me! It begins with Mama Wolf sending her doting pups off into the wide world with the warning: "Beware of the Big Bad Pig!" Keeping Mama's message in mind, the trio decides to build a strong house for protection from the boorish boar. The three fluffy, friendly, refined little wolves are never named, but I like to call them Frasier, Niles, and Daphne. The pig, a burly bully of a construction-worker, could be named Brutus. Safe in the yard of their new brick home, the little wolves play a spirited game of squash. Suddenly the swaggering swine shows up! In a reversal of the original tale, the Big Bad Pig pounds on the wolves' door and demands to come in, while they quaver, "Not by the hair on our chinny-chin-chins!" Then, using his construction hardware, the pig destroys the brick house, and the wolves flee with their fluffy tails between their legs! As the three little wolves build progressively massive fortresses, the big bad pig employs heavy ground-breaking and demolitions equipment to smash them to rubble. At last, the little wolves have no materials left with which to build, except -- ah, but I'm not going to give away the surprise! Let's just say, the ending is a lot sweeter than the original. No one gets boiled alive or devoured, and the the classic adversaries even become friends. Kids and parents will love the beautiful artwork and the silliness of the story, although the ending might seem just a bit too saccharine after all the destruction and mayhem.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant story, distracting pop-ups, September 1, 2006

By	B. Edwards "SirenSong" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig (Pop Up Books) (Hardcover)

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig has been a favorite story in our household for many years. We love it! I can't recommend this story enough!!!! The big bad pig is a tyrant and the wolves are such ingenious engineers, it makes the Big Bad Pig look even more formidable with his sledgehammer and dynamite. I recently purchased the pop-up version for a friend, but can honestly say I enjoyed reading the ordinary book more than the pop-up version. The pop-ups were very distracting and I think it takes away the energy from the story and the reader becomes disengaged, trying to fiddle with all the contraptions. I vote for the good old-fashioned book version any time!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious Remake of the Classic, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

As a parent with young children who like to be read to every night, it is very easy to quickly approach fifty readings of the same story. It can be painful, and all we as parents can do is try to introduce into the household books that we also appreciate. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig is absolutely hilarious. There is the obvious role reversal and the introduction of modern building materials for the wolves, such as Plexiglas and video surviellance, and equally destructive tools are available to the big bad pig. The pig is a persistent menace who craftily wields a pneumatic drill and gleefully triggers the dynamite fuse, and it is easy to worry about conveying the wrong message to the kids while laughing so hard that I had to take a composure break. In the end, sensitivity wins over brute force and the positive massage is clear to all, but not before very clever entertainment through great illustrations and witty prose. It so apparent that the authors enjoyed writing this book, as we enjoyed reading it.