"The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! By A. Wolf" Reflection

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! By A. Wolf

Scieszka, J., & Smith, L. (1989). The true story of the 3 little pigs. New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Viking Kestrel.

genre: picture book, fiction-fractured fairy tale

In this "true story" Mr. Alexander T. Wolf gives his side to the famous story of The Three Little Pigs. This entertaining story is told as if Mr. Wolf is being questioned by a reporter. Mr. Wolf swears he didn't mean any harm to these little pigs, he just had a terrible head cold! The cold was causing Mr. Wolf to sneeze, but he really needed some sugar for his dear old granny's birthday cake. That terrible cold caused him to have some terrible sneezes, two of which knocked down the pigs' homes! He's a wolf, so what could he do? There's a perfectly good pig laying there in the remnants of their home, he couldn't just let it go to waste. So of course, he ate the first two pigs. Then when he got to the third pig's home, it was made of brick. He knocked on the door because he still needed that cup of sugar! That mean old pig said to him "I hope your old granny sits on a pin". Well this did not sit well with Mr. Wolf, so he started trying to bang the door down. This is the site the police saw when they came up, and thus was born The Big Bad Wolf.

I absolutely loved this story! What a fun way to retell a traditional tale that has been told thousands of times. This would be a wonderful story to use when teaching the reading concepts point of view as well as comparing and contrasting. I know my students really struggle with understanding what point of view is and how to find out who's point of view the story is being told from. This is a great example to use that is very clear! You could also compare and contrast "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" to the traditional storybook "The Three Little Pigs".

The illustrations in this book really add to the story. Mr. Wolf is depicted as smart, professional, and classy. Not the kind of character you would call big and bad! I would say the illustrations are expressionistic, meant to provoke emotion, not based on reality. They really make you understand how the wolf was feeling. The cool, neutral colors also add to the sort of sad tone of Mr. Wolf's narration. 

Although Mr. Wolf was being quite serious, this book can't help but make you laugh. Who would've thought, maybe the wolf isn't so big and bad after all?