Book Review - The Three Pigs

 

  1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wiesner, David. (2001). THE THREE PIGS. Clarion Books a Houghton Mifflin Company Imprint. ISBN: 0618007016 


  1. PLOT SUMMARY

Wiesner’s story starts out as the classic three little pigs tale, however quickly takes a turn when the first pig gets blown out of the story. He helps the other two pigs escape and they meet some friends along the way, a cat and a dragon who are from their own stories. The group returns to the pigs’ story and helps them defeat the big bad wolf and they all live happily ever after.


  1. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The illustrations are set in a comic strip style, which allowed the author the creative freedom to depict their characters outside of the story. When the pigs leave their own comic strip and find others, it’s detailed in a 2D versus 3D format. Even when the pigs are hanging half in and half out of their own comic strip, they become much more realistic with coarser hair drawn and more details on the snouts and hooves.This provides an easy to see transition everytime they jump from one story to the other. The small fourth wall break further plays into the act that these pigs have escaped their own story and are now jumping into another.


The illustrations of each story are unique and help differentiate between the given fables. Even though these pigs are clearly writing their own story, the pictures further that point by having the dragon destroy the upcoming sentences that would’ve had the wolf blowing the brick house down. One of the pigs then comes in and steals some letters to write the last sentence on the page, evidently by the crookedness and last unfinished word.


Anytime the characters spoke outside of their story speech bubbles were drawn around the phrase. The wolf’s quotes were kept in the lines of the story in his comic strip, which emphasized that he was still stuck in the story while the pigs escaped. Lastly, the confusion was evident in the wolf’s and prince’s face and actions whenever the story didn’t go as planned. However, they were in the background as a nice added detail that contributed to the believability. 


Though this story did not follow the traditional telling of The Three Little Pigs, with the repeated phrases and structure, it still spoke a clear message that one can write their own ending. 


  1. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

CALDECOTT AWARD WINNER

BOOKLIST STAR REVIEW AND BLUE RIBBON

HORNBOOK STAR REVIEW: “In this postmodern interpretation, the style of the artwork shifts back and forth a few times as Wiesner explores different realities within a book’s pages.

KIRKUS STAR REVIEW: “On the last few pages, the final words of the text break apart, sending letters drifting down into the illustrations to show us that once we have ventured out into the wider world, our stories never stay the same.”


  1. CONNECTIONS

*This story could lead to a discussion on how different choices could result in natural consequences based on actions. The discussion could include what would’ve happened if the pigs had stayed in their own story or if they hadn’t saved the dragon.

*Other books by David Wiesner:

TUESDAY. ISBN: 9780395870822

SECTOR 7. ISBN: 9780395746561

FLOTSOM. ISBN:9780618194575

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review - Knight Owl by Christopher Denise

 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Denise, Christopher. (2022). Knight Owl . Little, Brown and Company. ISBN: 9780316310628 2. PLOT SUMMARY In this story a little owl has dreams of becoming a knight. When knights start disappearing off the castle wall, the little owl signs up to join the guild. He's not the strongest, but he excelled as a student which earns him a post on the Knight's Night Watch. One night, he encounters a hungry dragon and, b eing clever, he persuades the dragon to have some  pizza instead of the owl himself for dinner. The  little owl befriended the dragon, the  disappearances stop, and he earns a great many friends from his  efforts. 3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS Christopher Denise tells a story of overcoming obstacles and never giving up on personal dreams. The story of this little owl longing to be a knight teaches perseverance, courage, and friendship. The main character   saw an opportunity to make his dreams come true, and even though it was difficult at tim...
Read more

Book Review - The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig

  BIBLIOGRAPHY Trivizas, Eugene. (1993). THE THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG. Ill. by Helen Oxenbury. Margaret K. McElderry Books an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. ISBN: 9780689815287 PLOT SUMMARY In this version of the classic tale of The Three Little Pigs, there are three little wolves trying to stop a big bad big pig from blowing down their house. Following the classic storyline, they build three houses, but each one is foiled by the pig. They start with brick, move to concrete, and finally metal, but on each one the pig finds a way to demolish it. The last house the three wolves build is made of flowers and when the pig smells the flowers, he decides he wants to become the big “good” pig. The story ends with the wolves and the pig becoming friends. CRITICAL ANALYSIS The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig stays true to some elements of the original fable, but diverges from the very beginning. The species swapping creates an interes...
Read more

Book Review - The Lion & The Mouse

  BIBLIOGRAPHY Pinkney, Jerry. (2009). THE LION & THE MOUSE. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN: 9780316013567 PLOT SUMMARY The Lion & the Mouse is an Aesop’s fable retold in pictures. In the book, a little mouse escapes death twice, once by skill and the second by the kindness of a natural predator, a lion. After the lion lets the mouse go, he accidentally springs a trap set up by hunters and gets caught. The mouse hears his distress and chews through the rope to cut him free, forming an unlikely friendship in the process. CRITICAL ANALYSIS The pictures really do paint the story in this retelling of a classic fable. There are very minimal words used throughout the book. The only details he gives through words are the sounds of various animals: the “screech” and “who” of an owl, the “roar” and “grrr” of a lion, the “squeak” and “scratch” of a mouse, and the “putt, putt, putt” of a car driving through the safari. These sparsely used onomatopoeias enhance the apprehens...
Read more