Did the story of the three little pigs ever seem slightly biased to you? All that huffing and puffing--could one wolf really be so unequivocally evil? Finally, we get to hear the rest of the story, 'as told to author Jon Scieszka,' straight from the wolf's mouth. As Alexander T. Wolf explains it, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing was just a big misunderstanding. Al Wolf was minding his own business, making his granny a cake, when he realized he was out of a key ingredient. He innocently went from house to house to house (one made of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks) asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Could he help it if he had a bad cold, causing him to sneeze gigantic, gale-force sneezes? Could he help it if pigs these days use shabby construction materials? And after the pigs had been ever-so-accidentally killed, well, who can blame him for having a snack?

In a twist on the classic story, A. Wolf claims that he's been framed by those ornery little pigs. In an innocent quest for a cup of sugar (to bake his sweet old granny's birthday cake), the wolf 'accidently' kills each of the pigs, and only then eats them to prevent the plump bodies from going to waste. A hilarious introduction to sarcasm.

Age Appropriateness: primary
Media: acrylic ( )

There are two sides to every story. This is the case with The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. In this version of The Three Little Pigs Alexander T. Wolf finally gets to tell his side of the story. Mr. Wolf is in prison because he has been framed (or so he says) for murdering two of the little pigs.

Mr. Wolf, who had a cold, went to the pigs’ houses to borrow sugar so he could finish baking a cake for his granny. He claims that when he sneezed, he accidently blew down their houses, squishing the pigs and killing them. Mr. Wolf doesn’t think it’s his fault that the houses were made of straw and sticks. And he also doesn’t think a couple of good hams should go to waste, so he eats them.

As for the third little pig, that “rude little porker” said that Mr. Wolf’s granny could sit on a pin. Wouldn’t you stick up for your granny? Well, it didn’t look too good when the cops showed up just as Mr. Wolf was trying to break the pig’s door down. It also doesn’t help that the reporters “jazzed up the story” to make it more exciting.

In The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Jon Scieszka tells a very creative version of The Three Little Pigs. Some of the lines he throws in are very funny. For example the wolf claims that it’s not his fault that “wolves eat cut little animals like bunnies and sheep and pigs”; that’s just the way wolves are and if cheeseburgers were cute, people would be accused of being Big and Bad too.

The illustrations are also very well done. There are some interesting asides, such as the mixing bowl in the wolf’s kitchen. In the cake ingredients, there are bunny ears sticking out from under the flour. It took a few readings before I noticed that the police and the reporters are pigs because, rather than seeing the entire bodies of the pigs, you only see part of a head, part of a snout and a foot. You can also tell that they’re pigs by their shadows. And the picture of the wolf’s granny on his wall seems to suggest that she is supposed to be the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.

This is a great re-telling of The Three Little Pigs and if kids know the original story they’ll probably think this version is very funny. Even if they don’t know the original story, they will still enjoy it. Adults will get a good laugh too! ( )

Clever, funny illustrations. Fractured fairy tale.A humorous rendition of the traditional fairy tale. This version of the 3 Little Pigs is told from the wolf's point of view. He makes a convincing case for his innocence, stating in the end that he was framed.
it will make any age laugh! ( )