Three Little Pigs

by Marie-Louise Gay

One in a series of classic tales, this charmingly fresh interpretation of "The Three Little Pigs" gives the pigs, and the wolf, personality, creating a new twist on the tale children have loved for years.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Folk Tales, Fairy Tales

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 1996

About the author

Marie-Louise Gay is the illustrator of many award-winning children's books. She is from Montreal, Canada.

Reviews

[Brittany B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Traditional Literature-Fable (Free Choice)
Awards: None
Audience: Grades K-3rd

A) The main characters in this book are the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. The momma pig appears in the beginning, but sends her piglets away because she is too poor to take care of them. The first pig is portrayed for a short period of time, as he dies first, but he is represented as naive because he uses straw to build a house. The next piglet is smarter because he uses wood to build his house, but apparently not smart enough and gets eaten by the wolf as well. The last piglet is the smartest of them all and quick-witted. He outsmarts the wolf on many occasions and plans ahead to get resources without getting caught by the wolf. In the end, the little piglet outsmarts the wolf. The wolf, on the other hand, is sneaky and witty. He tries many tactics to get to the last piglet, but cannot. He is mean and vengeful, as he eats the first two little piggies.

B) The Three Little Pigs is a classic fable that has many variations. This book alone is a variation of the original Three Little Pigs story, as none of the pigs die in the original story. Some variations of this book include The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Three Little Javelinas, The Three Little Tamales, The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark, etc. There are many different variations of this story in other cultures as well, as the Three Little Javelinas is a Mexican take on the fable. There are so many other variations, and these examples barely scratch the surface!

C) I would use this story for storytelling because I am familiar with the story as I grew up with it. It would be easy to re-tell from memory, as the plot is generally the same with a few twists here and there that would be easy to remember. It would also be a fun book to improvise with, because I am so familiar with the story and could use this variation to create another twist. Usually, stories that are used for storytelling are well-known within a culture and are told for entertainment or to keep the tale alive through generations. This book does have a significant meaning in our culture and is one that the students are more than likely familiar with, so I think they would greatly enjoy the story. Finally, the twists to the story are fun and might be shocking to the students, because it is very different than how other stories have ended. So, it would be fun to see how the students react and to place an emphasis on these twists.

D) Question: Discuss why you think the Big Bad Wolf was unable to blow down the last piggies house.
Answer: Because it was made of brick, and bring is too strong to be affected by someone blowing.

[Jordyn DeLong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: In this beautifully illustrated version of "The Three Little Pigs", a wolf is anxious to get to and eat each of the three pigs. As the original story goes, he succeeds in blowing down the first two pig's houses but has difficulty with the last. As an interesting twist, the wolf invites the third pig somewhere new each day in hopes of getting a chance to eat him. The third pig, however, is smart and tries to avoid alone time with the wolf, but has a lot of close calls. If you want to know if the third pig manages to escape the wolf completely, you will have to read it yourself.
Major Themes: The major theme I found in this book is not to judge a book by its cover. The third pig outsmarts the wolf multiple times, starting with building a house of brick. If the wolf were to not have made assumptions about the pig in the first place, things might have turned out better for him.
Personal Response: I really enjoyed this book's illustrations but thought the story was a little far fetched for what the original is. I also felt it could be upsetting for younger children as two pigs get eaten by the wolf, rather than just running to the third pig's house. It does have a unique twist on the story however, and is enjoyable to look at.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book but would probably recommend other versions of the story before it. While it could be fun for children to "huff and puff" with the wolf and try to predict what will happen next, I feel other versions of the story could convey big messages better and be more enjoyable for them overall.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay; Almost the same words as the Galdone version. Great, whimsical illustrations. Very cute version but still true to the original. Highly recommended for Grades K-2.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straight-forward retelling of the classic story, including the parts about the wolf trying to trick the 3rd little pig into going out and apple picking, etc. with him.

[Caroline Fields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Traditional Literature-Fairy Tale
Awards:
Audience: K-3rd
A. The main characters are the three pigs and the wolf. Each pig is a little smarter than the one before, and the last pig out smarts the sneaky wolf with his wit. The characters are very two dimensional. The wolf is bad and the pigs are good.
B. I have heard this story many times, but at the beginning of this story, the pigs are forced out of their home by their father, which was not something that I remembered from previous tellings. Besides that, all other versions I've encountered were similar.
C. I would use this for storytelling because there is a lot of action in it, which makes it exciting and engaging for students to listen to. Because there are only four characters, it would be very east to add a puppet show or do voices for the characters.
D. Describe the differences in how the pigs built their houses. One pig built their house out of straw, one pig used sticks, and the third used bricks.

[Erika Graves · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the familiar story of the 3 little pigs. Each pig goes off to bold their homes with different materials. The first two who build their homes out of straw and sticks are eaten by the big, bad wolf. The third pig, who builds his home out of bricks, is able to stay safe from the wolf. The first pig even tricks the wolf a few times, which makes the wolf angry. Eventually the wolf decides he will come down the chimney to get the pig, but the pig has a pot of boiling water at the bottom of the chimney and the pig eats the wolf instead. I think this is a fairly traditional version of the story because it isn't drastically different in any way. This book could be used to compare this version of the story with versions that differ more. this book could also be used to discuss traditional tales.

[Whole And · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful version of "The 3 Little Pigs," particularly the illustrations. Also enjoyed the clever brick house pig and how he outwitted the tricky wolf by being early for every place the wolf invited the little pig to meet.

Sad that the first 2 pigs were eaten up, I prefer the version where they join their brother in the brick house.

Nevertheless, a lovely read and visually brilliant.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another version of the 3 Little Pigs. In this version the first two pigs do get eaten by the wolf so if your little guys are scared of things like this they maybe scared of this version. But if not, then this version is fun after that as the third piglet and the wolf try and trick each other around things to get to each other...

[Private Account · Rating 1 out of 5]

-Mom kicks kids out of house
-Pigs are given building supplies just by asking for them
-No connection made between laziness or personal choice and consequences
-Long ending teaching the value of being tricky

*This book has nothing of value to say or teach

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly traditional, but pig eats wolf at end.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite part about it was the pig's tail in the "3" on the front cover.

Obviously I wasn't a fan of this version of The 3 Little Pigs.