David Wiesner's,"The Three Pigs" Book Review

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wiesner, David. 2001. The Three Pigs. Ill. by David Wiesner. Clarion Books: New York. ISBN 978-0-618-00701-1

2. PLOT SUMMARY

The Three Pigs is a retelling of the English Fairy Tale, yet it has an unexpected twist! In this version the story begins like the classic tale, with three pigs who built their houses out of straw, sticks and bricks, and the wolf blows down the first two pigs’ homes and appears to have eaten them both. Yet, the story’s plot, mischievously turns into a playful twist, in which the three pigs go on a journey and explore other stories, and encounter other characters. In one fairytale within the main fairy tale, the pigs befriend a mighty dragon who then joins them and contributes to the story’s spectacular development, and unique ending!

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This story has humoristic qualities, and commences with a familiar beginning like the classic, with the three pigs building their homes. Then when the wolf encounters the third pig, there is a shift in the story and it transitions into a land of imagination. Wiesner’s illustrations begin in a traditional manner, with the pigs and the wolf portrayed realistically in the beginning. However, the paradigm shifts to a more cinematic style, the pictures seem to have a pop-up quality with the dialogue blurbs adding a modern graphic novel feel; the transition and transformation the pigs go through, is quite admirable, since the pigs are jumping from story to story, the dimensions in the pictures and pigs are well proportioned. The blank pages in the middle of the book provide an illuminating contrast. The illustrations throughout, are assigned a clear theme, that is cohesively and imaginatively well-done. The pigs change from realistic to cartoonish, and back and forth, the colors vary in scale from subtle browns and mute grays, to vibrant gold and brilliant green. The illustrations do a splendid job, bringing this endearing retelling of the beloved The Three Little Pigs, to life.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

The Caldecott Medal.

Publishers Weekly starred review: “Even the book’s younger readers will understand the distinctive visual code. As the pigs enter the confines of a storybook page, they conform to that book’s illustrative style, appearing as nursery-rhyme friezes or comic-book line drawings.”

Good Media starred review: “The Three Pigs, is about morality and imagination.”

5. CONNECTIONS

*This story would be great for a class reading in which the whole class plays a role, it focuses on the moral reasoning of concern for others well-being and platonic relationships with others. Simple costuming that can be made in class by students, like pigs masks, hand puppets with brown paper lunch bags would be a great addition to incorporate.

*Other stories in which three characters encounter a dilemma are:

Kimmel, Eric A. The Three Little Tamales. ISBN 978-0-7614-5519-16

McNamara, Margaret. The Three Aliens and the Big Bad Robot. ISBN 978-0375866890