Review of THE THREE LITTLE PIGS

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kellogg, Steven, re teller and ill.. 1997. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. New York, NY: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0688087310

PLOT SUMMARY
In this retelling of THE THREE LITTLE PIGS Steven Kellogg takes a humorous and fresh approach to an old tale. The pigs in this story are waffle makers and the mother pig, Serafina Sow, makes a good living bringing waffles to the world. When her three piglets graduate from Hog Hollow Academy she passes her business on to the three piglets and retires to the Gulf of Pasta. The piglets build homes nearby: Percy makes his of straw, Pete builds a log cabin, and Prudence builds a cozy brick home. When the bully arrives in the form of Tempesto, the wolf, things begin to move quickly. Tempesto arrives at the wafflery and attempts to eat the three pigs, telling them that he hates waffles and overturning the wafflery. After the piglets run to their respective homes, Tempesto, now enraged, follows and attempts to gain entrance. he first visits Percy, demolishing his straw house and blowing Percy to brother Pete's cabin. Before Percy's hut is destroyed, he manages to send a paper airplane containing a plea for help to the sheriff. The wolf successfully blows down Pete's cabin, as well and both brothers run to the safety of their sister's brick home. Tempesto was not able to blow down prudence's home and was bombarded by melons and other vegetables by the piglets. he devised a plan to enter the home through the chimney, but while he was executing this move, the piglet's mother, Serafina, drove up in a taxi announcing that the paper airplane had landed in her salad while she was eating. She was here to help. They placed a waffle iron in the fireplace and as soon as the wolf landed they proceeded to make a Wolffle out of him. he finally surrenders and they send him to the Gulf of Pasta in Serafina's place.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This story is a less violent version of the familiar tale. Most versions of the folktale have the first two pigs meet their demise and the wolf meet his in the end. For younger audiences, this is a friendly perspective, adding humor that most younger audiences will enjoy. The artwork is colorful, detailed and full of movement. The art also helps convey the humor with details like the the paper airplane landing in the ear of the sheriff, and an inmate in the jail laughing when Percy's bathtub lands on the sheriff. For children who enjoy irony and sarcasim, this will be a favorite.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: "Kellogg's usual busy, highly defined illustrations complement the humorous, clever text." "A tempting choice to pair with Jon Scieszka's The True Story of The Three Little Pigs (Viking, 1989) and your favorite traditional version for porcine storytime fun."

BOOKLIST review: "Just as Serafina's customers flock to The Wheeled Wafflery, so children will greet Kellogg's latest picture book with eagerness based on memories of his many satisfying books. Pure pleasure for Kellogg fans."

CONNECTIONS
Other versions of The Three Little Pigs:

Artell, Mike. 2006. THREE LITTLE CAJUN PIGS. Ill. by Jim Harris. Dial Press. ISBN 0803728158

Laird, Donivee. 1990. THREE LITTLE HAWAIIAN PIGS AND THE MAGIC SHARK. Ill. by Carol Jossem. Barnaby Books. ISBN 0940350254

Lowell, Susan. 1996. THE THEEE LITTLE JAVELINAS. Luna Rising. ISBN 0873586611

Marshall, James. 1989. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803705913

Rubin, Vicky. 2007. THE THREE SWINGIN' PIGS. ill. by Rhode Montijo. Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0805073353

Scieszka, Jon. 1996. THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. Ill. by Lane Smith. Puffin. ISBN 0140544518

Trivizas, Eugene. 1997. THE THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG. Ill. by Helen Oxenbury. McElderry. ISBN 068981528X

Wiesner, David. 2001. THE THREE PIGS. Clarion Books. ISBN 0618007016

Other connections: have children research pigs in both fairy tale/folktale variants and informational texts. Decide how many similarities and or differences there are.