The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka

Bibliography

Scieszka, Jon. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. Ill. by Lane Smith.  New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Viking Kestrel, 1989.

ISBN 0140544518

Plot Summary

This retelling of the fairy tale, “The Tree Little Pigs,” by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith gives a wise-cracking wolf a chance to set the story straight.  He was framed!  What really happened was so mundane that Alexander Wolf maintains newspaper reporters spiced up his story with motive and malice.  This betrayal of his innocent quest for a cup of sugar makes him, in his humble opinion, the victim in it all.  Read to see how the switch is accomplished – it’s a cup of fun!

Critical Analysis

Jon Scieszka’s recast of the traditional “Three Pigs” beast tale “in which animals act and talk like humans” (Vardell 88) is a witty take on the stock characters of good and evil.  The role reversal of the wolf as an innocent victim of newspaper reporters and portraying the pigs as stupid and, in the case of the third pig, insulting to women make for anticipation on the part of readers and/or listeners as to just what “really happened.”

The wolf reveals, during his innocent quest for a cup of sugar to bake his granny a birthday cake, how un-neighborly the pigs were and how the destruction of the first two pigs’ homes was only a result of a seriously unhealthy sneeze.  The fact that the pigs were also eaten is attributed to the wolf’s economical belief in not wasting “a perfectly good ham dinner.”  The wolf appeals to the reader/listener by addressing him directly with commands, admonitions, and questions.  The third pig, or “that rude little porker,” suffered the wolf’s ire when he insulted the wolf’s granny; otherwise, the wolf was going to leave to buy a card instead of bake a cake. 

This imaginative turn on the plot involves a quest and quick action.  It creates a sense of injustice for children to examine.  Since pre-knowledge of the plot is essential to appreciation of Scieszka’s retelling, children will sense that the wolf really is trying to fool the reader because he’s a wolf, a “big, bad” one in their recollection, not a vivacious vulpine or innocent, birthday-cake baker.

          Scieszka’s style maintains the structure of the traditional version with all of its repeated elements, such as the structural elements of the pigs’ houses, but it plays with the accepted ethic and universal truths of good over evil.  The wolf is saying he’s been “framed,” a concept that older children might understand more than younger ones.  Being framed implies injustice, and the words the wolf is saying don’t match his actions.  Eating the pigs in order to not allow meat to “spoil” will seem jarring in an ethical universe. 

          Lane Smith has provided illustration which portrays the wolf a cultured, bespectacled grandson.  The picture involving the sneezes help the reader see that the wolf’s defense isn’t exactly right because they are so destructive.  Nobody can sneeze that hard!  The wolf’s small eyes seem to deny innocence also since beady eyes aren’t associated with telling the truth.  The pigs, on the other hand, are illustrated mostly in edible pieces, such as arms, legs, and derrieres.  The only moral illustration is at the end when the police pig has a very stern face when he sees the wolf potentially victimizing the reader by asking him for a cup of sugar.

Review Excerpt(s)

Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Maryland) (1991)

Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award (North Dakota) (1991)

#35 of the Top 100 Picture Books –SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Older kids (and adults) will find very funny." - SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Designed with uncommon flair" – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Connections

·        Point of View in literature (adapt the lesson to the intended age group)

Have students use another character’s viewpoint in a traditional fairy tale.  Some possibilities: “Hansel and Gretel” from the witch’s viewpoint or “Princess and the Pea” from the prince’s mother’s viewpoint.

·        Puns and Word Play Lesson

a. Find them in the book

b. Using a teacher-generated list of puns and play on words which are age-appropriate, students try their hand at writing a story incorporating their choice(s) from the list.

·        Oral Connections

Students create masks to dramatize Scieszka’s variant.  The teacher reads as the children act.

·        Read Jon Scieszka’s other book in the same vein: “The Frog Prince CONTINUED.”

Sources

Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide, Second ed. (Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited, 2014).