The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by John Sciezska is a twist on the traditional story of the trio of swine brothers. This book is from the perspective of the wolf and how he was framed for eating the pigs, and he's actually innocent. This book is considered a fractured fair tale because it's a traditional fairy tale that is modified in such a way that makes readers laugh at the characterization, plot development or, in this case especially, contrary point of view.
The illustrations in this book are very well done and compliment the book well. The full pages of illustrations have plenty of color, just not the traditional pinks, blues and lime greens. They really capture the events of the book in a fun and humorous way. The setting is in the little town the 3 pigs and wolf live in, and the theme is how the wolf was framed and how he was wrongfully given the name "Big Bad Wolf".
This book would be perfect to use in a lesson about points of view, and how things can be biased or skewed based on the source of information. Teachers could introduce the lesson by asking students to think of times information was given incorrectly to or about them. (Like when their little brother tells mom the story of why there's marker on the wall, in which he is the bad guy and the little brother is the hero). Then, the teacher could read the book with inflection and enthusiasm and go into the lesson on points of view.
This book could also be used to model good reading and work on compare and contrast skills. Students could hear the story, and the story of the three little pigs, and then work on a compare and contrast worksheet to discover the similarities and differences between the two stories.
Reader Response:
- Given what happen with the first little pig, why do you think Mr. Wolf continued to search for someone to give him sugar for her sweet, grandma's cake?
- If you were one of the little pigs, what would you have done to stop Mr. Wolf from
blowingsneezing your house down? - Analyze the two stories. Do you believe Mr. Wolf? Or do you think he's still guilty?
I absolutely adore this book. It's a super fun, humorous and cute twist on the traditional story we all know and love. It gets students thinking and keeps them engaged. The illustrations are fun and compliment the story well, thus enhancing the quality of the book. I think this is a wonderful addition to any classroom!
References:
Galda, L., Liang, L. A., & Cullinan, B. E. (2010). Literature and the child. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Scieszka, Jon, and Lane Smith. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. NY, NY: Viking, an Imprint of Penguin Group (USA), 2014. Print.
Great story choice. I think another good classroom assignment could be a game where the children need to decide if it is from The Three Little Pigs original, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, or none of the above. This way they are really thinking and remembering what they read and in a game form. Good post.
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