The Three Pigs

The Three Pigs Written and Illustrated by David Wiesner

Picture book for children of all ages

5 out of 5 star rating

David Weisner puts his own unique spin on the popular story of the The Three Little Pigs in this picture book The Three Pigs. In Weisner’s version, the pigs take control of the story by literally walking in and out of the pages to determine their own fate instead of allowing the wolf to determine it.

            This book rocks my socks off. Everyone knows the story of the three little pigs who each build houses out of different materials. One builds his out of straw, the next out of sticks, and the smartest one builds his out of bricks. Weisner’s story, The Three Pigs, starts in this same fashion, but through the illustrations the pigs in the story decide to take control and change the plot of the story when the wolf comes to blow each pigs’ house down. The text written on the page often does not follow the illustrations. The illustrations definitely make this story come to life because without them, the story would have nowhere near the same meaning. Many different mediums of art are used in the creation of the illustrations in this book, and this is how the illustrations end up telling the story. For example, when the wolf comes to each pigs’ door and asks to come in, the pigs simply walk out of the page after refusing the wolf entrance. This illusion of the pigs walking out of a frame is shown by half of the pig’s body being drawn in the frame with a cartoon style, and then the other half of the pig’s body being drawn realistically in the white part of the pages. From this point until the end, the only text used in the story comes from the dialogue bubbles of the pigs, which is within the illustration itself. These illustrations definitely capture the reader’s attention and tell the story, which is what makes this book well written, even more so, well illustrated.

            I would definitely use this book within my classroom. The creativity shines through the pages of this story as never before have I read a book quite like it. Due to this uniqueness, I would use this story within the anticipatory set of a lesson or assignment. For example, if I am about to introduce a new project or writing assignment, I would read this story to my class first. My guess is that the students will go wild upon hearing and seeing the story. This presents me with the perfect opportunity for a teachable moment. As the kids are loving The Three Pigs, I could foster a discussion about what makes this story so great, which is the fact that Weisner stepped out of the box when creating this story. From this point, I could then inspire them to be creative and step outside of their own boxes when working on their upcoming project. Another idea for a curriculum connection could be to read this story to the class, and then have each student take a fairytale or popular children’s story and put their own spin on it and make it into a real picture book. The options are endless with The Three Pigs, winner of the Caldecott Medal, which is why I will be definitely using this story in my future classroom.

Check out other great stories by David Weisner on his website.