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retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/138069.The_Three_Pigs?ac=1&from_search=true
Wiesner, David. 2001.
The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion
Books. ISBN 9780618007011
PLOT SUMMARY
There once lived three pigs who wanted to build a house
for themselves. When a hungry wolf comes to the house of the first pig, he huffs and puffs to blow the house down. Instead, he accidentally blows the first pig out
of the story.
The first pig quickly helps the other pigs step out of the story too. Safely outside their story, they make a paper
airplane from a page from their story and decide to go exploring. While on their adventure, they visit various storybook
tales and make new friends. Ultimately,
the lure of their own story beckons them home, and with the help of their new
friends, they rewrite the ending to their story.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
True to the original tale, the first pig also chooses to build his house out of straw.
Likewise, the second pig used sticks, and the third pig used
bricks. When the wolf goes to the first
pig’s house, he blows the house down. But, instead of eating the pig, the wolf blows the pig
out of the story. Thwarted in his
efforts, the hungry wolf tries to get into the second pig’s house. Outside of the story, the first pig comes
along and helps the second pig to step out of the story too. When wolf blows the second pig’s house down, to his chagrin, he finds the second pig has also escaped. The two pigs head over to the third
pig’s house and help the third pig to step out of the story and into safety.
The three pigs climb aboard a paper airplane they made from a page out of their story, and while flying
around, they explore a strange, new, empty white place. While flying past other storybook pages, they
decide to stop. When they do, they accidentally step into a page from the Cat and the Fiddle
nursery rhyme. They quickly step out of
the Cat and the Fiddle story and leave. Next, as they
continue exploring, they find themselves faced with pages from various
children’s books. They decide to climb
down into the page of a tale about a dragon and a golden rose. Not only do they find themselves in the story with the dragon and the golden rose, but they are standing on his back. When they
realize the dragon is in danger, they help the dragon step out of his story
too. Just then, to their delight, they discover
they had been followed out of the Cat and the Fiddle nursery rhyme by the
Cat.
The five companions begin to explore the empty white space
and continue examining the various storybook pages they encounter. The Cat finds the page from the three pigs
story that shows the third pigs brick house and draws their attention to it.
Feeling a little homesick for their own story, the pigs decide to go back home
with their new friends.
They put the pages of their story back in order, and with the help of
their new friends, they rewrite the ending to their story.
This creative version of the classic children’s storybook
tale of The Three Little Pigs pushes the boundaries of the traditional format
of a children’s picture book. Similar to
formatting methods and techniques employed in the comic book and graphic novel
genre, the composition of The Three Pigs utilizes picture gutters and white
space to create a whole new realm for the characters to explore. Likewise, the pigs and their new friends find
freedom from their traditional scripted lines through the clever use of the
signature word bubbles that are used in comics and graphic novels. Employing the use of word bubbles allows the
characters to create new dialogue during their adventure.
There is a significant amount of white space applied in the
story. The white space is used to convey
the idea of openness and infinite possibilities that exist in the world outside
the character’s stories. Similarly, the
white space is also utilized to express movement and distance as the characters
explore their new surroundings. During
their exploration, through the innovative use of white space and gutters in several scenes, the characters experience museum-like presentations of the
various storybook pictures and pages they encounter.
The pigs, cat, and dragon are often illustrated as existing
simultaneously both partially inside a storybook picture and partially outside
in the gutter. When inside a storybook
picture, they take on the tone and style of the illustrations unique to that
particular story. When the characters are
represented outside of a storybook picture, and existing in the gutter or white
space, they are depicted with a realistic quality that includes a different style
of illustration and color palette. As a result, the
ingenious use of color, white space, and non-traditional formatting help to create an original new version of a classic
tale.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Winner of the 2002 Caldecott Medal
From School Library Journal: “Witty dialogue and physical comedy abound in this inspired retelling of a familiar favorite.”
From Publisher’s Weekly: “Wiesner’s (Tuesday) brilliant use of white space and perspective (as the pigs fly to the upper right-hand corner of a spread on their makeshift plane, or as one pig’s snout dominates a full page) evokes a feeling that the characters can navigate endless possibilities–and that the range of story itself is limitless.”
From Kirkus Reviews: “With this inventive retelling, Caldecott Medalist Wiesner (Tuesday, 1991) plays with literary conventions in a manner not seen since Scieszka’s The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1993).”
From School Library Journal: “Witty dialogue and physical comedy abound in this inspired retelling of a familiar favorite.”
From Publisher’s Weekly: “Wiesner’s (Tuesday) brilliant use of white space and perspective (as the pigs fly to the upper right-hand corner of a spread on their makeshift plane, or as one pig’s snout dominates a full page) evokes a feeling that the characters can navigate endless possibilities–and that the range of story itself is limitless.”
From Kirkus Reviews: “With this inventive retelling, Caldecott Medalist Wiesner (Tuesday, 1991) plays with literary conventions in a manner not seen since Scieszka’s The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1993).”
CONNECTIONS
Collect Caldecott award-winning books to read such as:
- Mattick, Lindsay. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear. ISBN 978-0316324908
- Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion & The Mouse. ISBN 9780316013567
- Wenzel, Brendan. They All Saw a Cat. ISBN 9781452150130
Collect other David Weisner books to read such as:
- Mr. Wuffles! ISBN 9780618756612
- Flotsam. ISBN 9780618194575
- Tuesday. ISBN 9780395551134
Collect other traditional versions of The Three Little Pigs to read such as:
- Marshall, James. The Three Little Pigs. ISBN 9781435209923
- Galdone, Paul. The Three Little Pigs. ISBN 9780547370200
- Seibert, Patricia. The Three Little Pigs. ISBN 9781577683674
Collect other fractured fairytale versions of The Three Little Pigs to read such as:
- Scieska, Jon. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. ISBN 9780140544510
- Trivizas, Eugene. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. ISBN 9780689815287
- Gunderson, Jessica. No Lie, Pigs (and Their Houses) Can Fly!: The Story of the Three Little Pigs as Told by the Wolf (The Other Side of the Story). ISBN 9781479586219
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