Children have little trouble using their imaginations. They understand fairy tales, and enjoy reading and hearing these stories of adventure and excitement.
Children appreciate fables as well, with their moral underpinning. The combination of exciting the imaginations of children and teaching values is a unique talent. David Wiesner takes a very well known fairy tale/fable and gives it a completely new twist in his 2002 Caldecott-winning book, "The Three Pigs."
As he commonly does in his books, Wiesner writes about and draws hilarious scenes that will keep children laughing throughout the reading of the book.
The story begins with the big bad wolf coming over the hill and seeing the first pig building his house out of straw. The wolf huffs and puffs and blows the house down. Unfortunately for the wolf, the strength of his puff has also blown the pig out of the story.
Perplexed, the wolf looks around the destroyed house and doesn’t find the pig. As a result of this undesired consequence, he gets no lunch. So he ventures after the second pig, who has built his house out of sticks.
After threatening the second pig, he blows the house down. Unfortunately, the wolf now finds that the second pig has vanished as well. He has joined the first pig. Now the wolf is completely lost and hungry. Where did they go?
The wolf doggedly trudges on to the third pig’s house that is made of bricks. As he huffs and puffs, the third little pig escapes from the house and finds the other two pigs. By now the wolf has become trapped in the pages of the story book, and the three pigs go on adventures in other fairy tales. This leads them to flying through the air and landing the story, "Hey diddle, the cat and the fiddle." But this fairy tale is too dull for the pigs, so they fly off to another story, filled with dragons and princes. Much to their surprise, the pigs find that the cat and the fiddle have joined their escapades.
But this isn’t the fairy tale of the three little pigs; so how do they get back to their own story? What has become of the poor wolf still stuck in the pages of the original story?
How can you use your imagination to pop in and out of fairy tales and situations? Who finally protects the three pigs? Have you ever saved someone from harm? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out this very funny picture book, "The Three Pigs," by David Wiesner.
The author uses surrealist art in much of his work, and creates highly unusual settings. Here we see pigs flying through the air and traditional fairy tales being combined with zany actions. This book is completely fun, and children will keep laughing at the hi-jinks of the three pigs.
When you read this book it important to remember that Wiesner will sometimes write the original fairy tale, but create a different reality through the drawings. Lest you get confused, the original words don’t always match what is really happening in the story, and this is especially true in the second half of the book. The drawings are the true reality of what has occurred.
You will have an enjoyable time reading this delightful book with your younger family members. Just don’t laugh more than the children. Enjoy!
