Review on THE THREE LITTLE PIGS By: M.J. York Ill. by Laura Ferraro Close

BIBLIOGRAPHY

York, M.J. 2012. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. Ill. by Laura Ferraro Close. Minnesota: Child’s World. ISBN 9781614732167

PLOT SUMMARY

One day three little pigs are sent off into the world to make their own lives as their family has fallen into misfortune. Each pig made their own home. The first pig made his of straw. He was approached by the big bad wolf who huffed and puffed and blew the house in. He gobbled him up as he did the second pig whose house was made of sticks and didn’t withstand the big bad wolf and his hunger for the pig. After many unsuccessful attempts at trying to get the third pig out of his brick home, he is outsmarted by the pig when he jumps down the chimney and lands in a pot of boiling water. The big bad wolf is no more and the pig lived happily ever after. 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

When misfortune strikes the pigs' older mother and their family, they are sent out to make their own lives as they go their separate ways and build their own homes giving them human-like characteristics. Each pig’s interaction with the wolf is set in the straw, sticks and brick home settings. The wolf moves the story from house to house and the illustrations complement the pigs facial expressions with accuracy to their response to emotion. They are simple and true to a classic folktale with simple settings and boxed text in long paragraphs. The style of repetition and pacing in the wolf’s pleas “...then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down” shows the progression in his journey leading us to the end where although it is a happy ending for one pig, the first two were unfortunately gobbled up and the wolf disappears from the story as well. The folktale shows us that putting in time and effort into your work will pay off in the end just as it helped the third pig, enough to save his life. The opening of the story with “Once upon a time” and the ending “...the pig lived happily ever after” are true to a classic folktale. 

REVIEWS/EXCERPTS

School Library Journal (December 1, 2012): “...story ends with a “beyond the story, “ which includes a moral…e.g.Hard work(Three Little Pigs).”

Library Media Connection (May/June 2013): “the unique feature of these books is “Beyond the Story, “ which includes didactic interpretations and suggests how readers might internalize the moral of the story.”

*No awards listed for this book.

CONNECTIONS: 

*This classic tale ties into a sequencing activity for first, next, then last which can be a fun coloring cut and paste activity for the lower elementary level. 

*Dramatizing this classic tale with actors and a narrator would be a great retelling activity which involves the students for a fun opportunity to get into character and learn point of view. 

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