The Three Pigs (Module 2)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wiesner, David. 2001. The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN: 0618007016

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Starting out as a traditional telling of “The Three Little Pigs,” this book soon shows that it's actually a fractured retelling when the first pig gets blown out of the illustration by the big bad wolf. Following that, the three pigs all leave the story on a paper airplane (made from a page of their own story) and find themselves in a storybook world with pages of stories everywhere. The pigs venture through “Hey Diddle Diddle” and a fairy tale, picking up the Cat and the Fiddle and rescuing a dragon, before they all settle back down in the third pig's brick house. The wolf doesn't seem to have really caught on to the changes in his own story until the dragon pops out, scaring him away, and everyone else lives "happily ever aft...".

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The writing style begins with the traditional folk tale style but then shines with Wiesner's sense of humor. The pigs' dialogue is shown in speech bubbles during their time in the storybook world and is simple yet humorous. Each character maintains speech patterns from their own story, i.e. the dragon is shown as speaking with a royal flair: "O brave and noble swine."

The real star of the whole book, though, are the illustrations. The beginning shows four pictures per page, set up almost like slides. This then allows for the pig to be blown out of his own story, yet still remain on our page. It also sets us up for the storybook world that follows with pages from other stories all around.

Wiesner handles the traditional violence of the story through his illustrations. Even as the words claim that the wolf “ate the pig up.” The reader just saw the pig blown right out of the illustration one slide earlier. The wolf looks a bit confused, but the story keeps right on, claiming he ate the second pig, even though the illustrations again show an entirely different story.

When the pigs are no longer in their story, Wiesner brilliantly changes his artistic style to portray them more realistically. The pages of the pigs flying on their airplane are delightful. Who can't smile at glee on their faces or those curly, little piggy tails? Each story they enter has a different style of illustration and the pigs take on that style while within that story.

Finally, the illustrations help end the story as the dragon knocks the words down while scaring away the wolf. The characters capture the letters, so that the third pig can write out, “And they all lived happily ever after,” on the last page—allowing those pigs to finally write their own version of the story.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Caldecott Award book
• Booklist starred review: “Not only breaks apart and deliciously reinvents the pigs' tale, it invites readers to step beyond the boundaries of story and picture book altogether.”
• Horn Book starred review: “A fantastic journey told with a light touch.”
• School Library Journal starred review: “Witty dialogue and physical comedy abound in this inspired retelling of a familiar favorite.”
  

5. CONNECTIONS

• Wiesner won the Caldecott for Tuesday (1992), The Three Pigs (2002), and Flotsam (2007). He received Caldecott Honors for Free Fall (1988) and Sector 7 (1999). Compare and contrast the illustrations on each of these books to see if you can find how each one is different yet bears his signature style.
• Other stories with “The Three Little Pigs” tale:
  

Brett, Jan. The 3 Little Dassies. ISBN: 9780399254994.

Kellogg, Steven. The Three Little Pigs. ISBN: 9780064437790.

Marshall, James. The Three Little Pigs. ISBN: 9780448422886.

Scieszka, Jon. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. ISBN: 9780140544510.