The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

Bibliography
Trivizas, Eugene. 1993. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. By Helen Oxenbury. New York: NY: MacMillan. ISBN 0590486225

Plot Summary
In this version of the three little pigs the, the wolves are the ones having their houses destroyed by the big, bad pig. The first house built out of bricks was destroyed with a sledgehammer, the second house built out of concrete was destroyed with a pneumatic drill and the third house made out of barbed wire, iron bars, armor plates, heavy metal padlocks and Plexiglas was blown up with dynamite. Soon the three little wolves decided they must try something different so they built a house out of flowers. Soon the big, bad pig came to tear their house down, but the smell of flowers was so lovely that his heart grew tender and he decided to become a good pig. From then on the wolves played games with the pig, ate together and lived together happily ever after.

Critical Analysis

The text has the repeating situations and phrases from the traditional version of The Three Little Pigs. An example of this is when the three little wolves say “no, no, no. By the hair on our chinny-chin-chins.” And the big, bad pig says, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!” Also, the characters are full of personality for they are either drinking tea, playing croquet in the garden or a game of shuttlecock and of course in the end build a house out of flowers. The ending of the story is quite ironic when the pig has a change of heart due to the strong aroma of the flowers and becomes friends with the three little wolves.

Helen Oxenbury's watercolor illustrations work well to create the various settings and transitions found in the story. The use of gray colors help to move the story from setting to setting from beginning to end, finishing with beautiful happy pastel colors, such as from the construction of the first house made out of bricks to the soft and aromatic petals of the house made out of flowers.

The author’s illustrations of the cold and hard houses made out of brick, mortar, barb wire and padlocks is a grim reminder of the disconnect and distrust many humans have with their neighbors just as the big, bad pig had with the wolves; therefore causing conflict among the two.

Review Excerpt(s)
*Publishers Weekly-"among the wittiest fractured fairy tales around."
*Booklist-“This fractured fairy tale has a subtle message, adding some heart to what otherwise might have been just a clever piece of storytelling. . . . The concepts that beauty can facilitate change and that tenderness works better than toughness won't be lost on kids.”
* Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books- “Irony entails a restoration of the proper order of things, and this book has a double transformation that will reassure young audiences at the same time it tells them a new truth about old tales: every pig has his day."

Connections
*Compare and Contrast with another version titled, The Fourth Little Pig, by Teresa Cecil and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka.
*Practice point of view using the traditional tale of the Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka.
*This version is a great example to use as a writing springboard where students may write their own version of The Three Little Pigs.