The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

by Eugene Trivizas, Helen Oxenbury (Illustrator)

Overview

It was time for the three little wolves to go out into the world, so off they went and built themselves a splendid brick house. But they hadn't reckoned on the big bad pig who soon came along and knocked their house down.
The little wolves built a stronger house of concrete, in which they were sure to be safe. But that didn't stop the big bad pig, who made short work of it with a pneumatic drill. Even a house made of armor plates could not protect them. It was only a chance encounter with a flamingo bird that solved their dilemma in an entirely unexpected and satisfactory way.
Helen Oxenbury's enchanting watercolor illustrations, full of humorous details and visual excitement, are the perfect accompaniment to this hilarious retelling-in-reverse of the traditional tale.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689505690
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	09/30/1993
Edition description:	United States ed.
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	260,060
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Helen Oxenbury is the renowned illustrator of many classic picture books, including We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas. Ms. Oxenbury lives with her husband, illustrator John Burningham, in North London.

Editorial Reviews

ISBN 0-689-81528-X. PW's starred review applauded the "laugh-out-loud results" of this talented team's clever interpretation, calling it "among the wittiest fractured fairy tales around." Ages 5-10. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

PreS-Gr 3-``Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails....'' They go out into the world to build a house for themselves only to be menaced by a big bad pig. In a clever switch on the familiar counterparts, these sweet-faced innocents use brick, concrete, and steel constructions, but their nemesis is not called big and bad for nothing. With sledgehammer, pneumatic drill, and dynamite, the pig wrecks each structure. ``Something must be wrong with our building materials,'' the wolves muse. Their final house is build from flowers, insubstantial yet beautiful. It is their lovely scent that causes the pig to change his nasty ways and all live together as friends happily ever after. The text has the repeating situations and phrases from the traditional version. Oxenbury's pastel watercolor illustrations combine the coziness of a nursery tale with tongue-in-cheek humor. They are animated and full of personality. Children familiar with The Three Little Pigs will enjoy the turnabout, the narrow escapes, and the harmonious ending. This may also be used to inspire them to develop their own adaptations of classic tales.-Karen James, Louisville Free Public Library, KY

School Library Journal

This fractured fairy tale has a subtle message, adding some heart to what otherwise might have been just a clever piece of storytelling. As the title tells, this is role-reversal time, with three wolf siblings heading out to find some real estate. These wolves are no dumb bunnies, however. They go right for the solid red brick model. But a big, bad piggy comes along, and when huffing and puffing doesn't work, he knocks down the house with a sledgehammer. Similar fates befall the wolves' next homes, one made of stone, the other of reinforced steel. It's only when the wolves build a house of flowers, and the pig stops to smell the lovely scent, that contentious turns contented, and the now very good pig moves in and becomes a roommate. The concepts that beauty can facilitate change and that tenderness works better than toughness won't be lost on kids. Both the art and the text are full of wit, but it's especially Oxenbury's pictures that appeal, as the cover picture of the wolves graciously eating their lunches, with napkins spread on laps, clearly shows.

Ilene Cooper

Mama sends her three little wolves out into the world, but each time they build their new house—with bricks, then cement, then concrete blocks—the pig outsmarts them with modern destructive devices, until finally they win him over with flowers. The combination of Trivizas’s refreshing and humorous version of the familiar story, the jaunty musical accompaniment, and the comprehensive sound effects is enhanced by Brian Bowles’s delightful narration—especially his wonderful voices for all the characters, major and minor. His comic timing is perfect, and his lovely accent adds to the folksy tone of the story. Great fun for children and adults. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 07 - AudioFile