The Three Pigs

The Three Pigs

David Wiesner
Clarion Books, 2001

From the dust jacket, “Three pigs…Straw, sticks, bricks…Huffs and puffs…You probably know the rest. It’s an old story, and every time someone tells it the same thing happens. But who says it’s supposed to? Who’s in charge of this story? Who gets to decide? Has anyone asked the pigs? No? Well, it’s about time someone did.

“Here, thanks to David Wiesner, is the answer.”

I don’t know if David Wiesner ever read Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series, or if Jasper Fforde read Wiesner’s books? Wiesner has that same off-the-wall, so-far-out-of-the-box imagination that it just blows your mind. In case you don’t remember, Fforde’s Thursday Next series is all about an alternate England where books and all their characters have a life & world of their own inside Book World.  Just like Fforde’s characters can go from book to book, Wiesner’s pigs go from story to story, picking up friends along the way before they finally settle back in their own story. Loved the concept, loved the illustrations, loved these three pigs. When you read it, be sure to keep an eye on the wolf. He’s just going along with the story but some of the looks on his face are priceless. He can’t figure out what’s going on around him and even though the narrator says he ate the pig, he can’t find a pig to eat! Too funny. Seriously, too-too funny!

Rating 5 out of 5 paws – I reviewed this book several years ago but I finally got my own copy at a library book sale and thought it so special, I’d review it again!!

Reviewer: Simon

 

 

The Three Little Pugs and The Big Bad Cat

 

The Three Little Pugs and the Big, Bad Cat

 

Becky Davies

Illustrated by Caroline Attia

Tiger Tales, Little Tiger Press, 2017

From the dust jacket, “Three little pugs named Bubbles, Bandit, and Beauty live with their mother in a kennel in the woods. One day, Mother Pug tells them, “You’re not puppies anymore. It’s time you left to build houses of your own.” She gives them each a backpack full of snacks and warns them to watch out for the Big, Bad Cat. The three little pugs set out, each with a plan to build the perfect house. But will they be able to steer clear of the Big, Bad Cat?”

This adorable picture book is yet another variation on the classic tale of The Three Little Pigs, this time starring pugs instead of pigs and a cat instead of the wolf. Of course, the only reason I check it out of the library was because of the cat!!! In this story, the pugs are real dogs by way of photographs put into illustrations of everything else. The cat, alas, is illustrated – but there’s a very good reason. It would be hard to get a real cat to handle things like a hair dryer, leaf blower and an industrial-type fan.

The book is very funny – I laughed a lot – and I mean a lot – at the Big, Bad Cat! And, oh boy! The ending – my goodness – what a surprise! So, so funny!!! I know the pugs have the “starring role” but I really preferred the cat’s surprising antics to the dogs’ predictable ones (you know, a house of straw, a house of sticks and a house of bricks, blah, blah, blah). This is a very cute book to read to your kittens, over and over again – they’ll love it – I promise!!!

Rating: 4 paws out of 5 – I had to take away a paw rating because of the dog factor. The cat alone, however was an absolute 5 paw rating!!

Reviewer:

Simon

 

The Three Little Pigs … again!

Last time for the pigs – I promise!

   

 

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
As told to Jon Scieszka by A Wolf

Illustrated by Lane Smith
Viking, 1989

An alternate version of the 3 Little Pigs told from the wolf’s point of view

Main characters –
• Alexander T. Wolf, aka Big Bad Wolf 

Secondary characters –
• The three little pigs

Other characters –
• The police (pigs of course)

Very cute! Poor wolf, he maintains the press got the whole story wrong – that he was framed by the last pig left alive. All he wanted was to borrow a cup of sugar from his neighbor the pig(s) and ended up eating 2 suppers which landed him in jail!

Rating: 4 paws for laugh-out-loud humor!

The Three Little Tamales

Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Valerie Docampo

Marshall Cavendish Children, 2009

Yet another version of the classic tale of the Three Little Pigs, this time with tamales!

Main characters –
• Three Little Tamales, two sister and one brother
• Senor Lobo, the big bad wolf!

Secondary characters –
• Runaway Tortillia who tells the tamales they’re going to be eaten!

Other characters –
• Tio Jose and Tia Lupe who owned a taqueria. Tia Lupe made the tamales.

This was another cute book with the twist being tamales instead of pigs. The tamales built their casitas out of sagebrush, cornstalks and cactus which meant Senor Lobo has some definite challenges – especially with the cactus one. No one dies in this version – even the wolf escapes being made into a tamale!

Rating: 3 paws for beautiful illustrations and a cute version of a classic.

 

The Three Little Javelinas

Susan Lowell
Illustrated by Jim Harris

Rising Moon Books, 1992

This is yet another retelling of the Three Little Pigs, this time in the Sonoran Desert with javelinas in place of the pig and a coyote in place of the wolf.

Main characters –
• 1st javelina built a house of tumbleweeds
• 2nd javelina built a house of saguaro ribs (the skeleton of a dried up saguaro cactus)
• 3rd javelina built a house of adobe bricks
• Coyote, full of tricks and magic as all coyotes are in Native American legends

This book is an excellent way to introduce the younger set to southwestern culture. The illustrations are lush and full of desert charm. The story itself takes the usual path all the way to the traditional end with the wolf down the smokestack. But it is a smart retelling and worth checking out.

Rating: 3 paws for the coyote’s magic and the javelina’s shrewdness at staying alive.

 Reviewer: Simon

Authors

 Jon Scieszka, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

 Eric A. Kimmel, The Three Little Tamales

 Susan Lowell, The Three Little Javelinas 

 

 javelina – they’re real!

  coyote, aka prairie wolf

 wrapped and unwrapped tamales

 

If you want to continue reading various versions of the 3 Little Pigs, take a look at these books:

                 

I could go on…but I won’t! There are just way too many…

2 versions of The Three Little Pigs

  

Here are two books telling the same story in two different ways. Both cute but see if you can guess which one was my favorite! (Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to see my mom’s version of these silly pigs!)

Huff and Puff

Claudia Rueda

Abrams Appleseed, an imprint for Abrams, 2012

A retelling of the classic story, Three Little Pigs, this time with an interactive twist from the reader.

Main characters –

• 1st pig, lives in a straw house and likes to cook
• 2^nd pig, lives in a wood log house and also likes cooking
• 3^rd pig, lives in a brick house and is happy
• Wolf, whom we never really see, because he is the reader

This book is definitely for the very young reader, the drawings are sweet but not complex and the wording is simple and easy to read.  I laughed out loud at the ending because it was a surprise. Since the book was a library book I didn’t huff and puff as the book instructed the reader to do (who knows what little mouths have been on those pages!) but kids will get a kick out of it!

Rating: 3 paws for a surprise ending and cute pigs

The Three Pigs

David Wiesner

Clarion Books, imprint of Houghton Mifflin Company

A twist on The Three Little Pigs, these pigs escape the wolf in a very unusual way. Along the way, they meet the characters of Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle nursery rhyme and a dragon.

Main characters –

• Three Pigs, of course, and very clever in their getaway
• The Wolf, naturally, and befuddled over the disappearing pigs

Secondary characters –

• The Cat and the Fiddle, curious as cats always are he ends of following the pigs
• A Great Dragon, whom the pigs help escape from a knight charged with killing him

 

Mom got this book from the local library and we read it together and laughed out loud it was so funny! She said it reminds her of her favorite authors’ Thursday Next novels (Jasper Fforde). If you have read his work then you might get the hint. I don’t want to tell anything about what happens – it spoils the surprise! But truly, a cute book and one that will easily be read over and over again by the younger set.

 Rating: 4 paws for imagination and an original take on a very old tale.

both reviewed by Simon

 Claudia Rueda, Huff and Puff

Other books:

     

 David Wiesner, The Three Pigs

Other books:

I really want to read these books – mainly for the outstanding artwork! I’ll get my mom to get as many from the library as she can and then read / review them all together!

My next review will be of 2 more versions of the The Three Little Pigs!  See you then!

Now, my mom’s version – originally published on her Orangemarmalade blog!

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

 

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

By Eugene Trivizas

Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury

Scholastic, 1994 & Macmillan, 1993

A cute reverse retelling of the Three Little Pigs!

 Main Characters:

·         3 little wolves, a white one, a grey one, a black one

·         Big Bad Pig

So in this reverse story, it is the wolves who are trying to build a house to keep the pig out. They try brick, concrete and steel, all to no avail. Finally they try flowers because they’re so beautiful. And guess what? That’s right, the flowers work! When the Big Bad Pig breathes in the fragrance of the flowers he is changed and becomes the Big Good Pig!

I first read this book when I was living with my mom’s sister. My cousins had this book and it was so funny that when mom saw it at a garage sale she got it for me! Thanks mom!

Rating: 3 paws  for the wonderful memories it evoked!

 Reviewer: Simon

I’m posting my reviews of kid’s books because Santa will be visiting soon and these are good additions to every library! Kids, be sure to ask Santa for your favorites!

I looked for similar books – here’s what I found:

   

   

        

WOW! I didn’t know there was so many versions! I’m going to search some out so I can review them! How about you?