picture book - The Three Pigs

 

Wiesner, D. (2001). The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion Books

The Caldecott Award winning book The Three Pigs by David Wiesner, takes the reader to a place one could never imagine. The book begins with the traditional story of the three little pigs with the first little pig building his house of straw and the big bad wolf then knocking on the door, asking to come in and the little pig responding, "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin." When the wolf then begins to huff and puff to blow the house in, the story takes an unexpected twist. Although the text reads that the wolf ate the pig up, the illustrations indicate that the wolf is confused because the pig is not there. Unbeknownst to the wolf, the pig has been blown out of the story! As the book continues, the first pig goes to the second and third pigs and gets them out of the story to where it is safe. The three pigs then go on an adventure where they discover and enter other famous fairy tales. They rescue a dragon from one of these tales who is about to be killed by a king. Eventually the three pigs, the cat and the fiddle, and the dragon return to the pigs' home where the story ends completely differently from the traditional story.

 The page layout in the illustrations of The Three Little Pigs, is vital to understanding the text. Wiesner utilizes the doublespread format. The pictures extend across the two facing pages, thus giving the effect of motion. One example of this is when the dragon enters the story. He is so enormous that his body extends the length of two adjoining pages. Additionally, as the pigs are going from one fairy tale to another, half of a pig's body may be on one page and the other half on the next.

Wiesner also uses framing for his illustrations in The Three Little Pigs. Each of the fairy tales are told within frames of thick black lines. As the characters leave their respective tales, they are outside of these frames and their appearance is more realistic and less cartoonish. This allows the reader to better understand what is going on both inside and outside the story. The reader realizes that the actual fairy tale is secondary to the real plot of the book.

Another distinguishing characteristic of the book's illustrations is that once the characters have left their tales, their conversations are within speech bubbles and with a typeface different that the text within the fairy tale. Both styles of print are easily read and guides the reader to become a part of the story.

Once again, Wiesner has created a work that can be used with all ages. The youngest student can enjoy the simple humor that this book creates. Upper level readers can better appreciate not only the irony of the book but the way Wiesner uses his illustrations to tell the story. Different versions of the classic tale of the three little pigs can be compared and contrasted by all age groups.