22. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!

Title: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!
Author: John Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Puffin
Copyright Date: 1989
Number of Pages: 28
Reading Level: 8+
Genre: Comedy/Humor

Summary
Everything we’ve ever known (or thought we’ve known) has been wrong about the three little pigs. The wolf decided it’s his turn to tell his side of the story. Al, Alexander T. Wolf that is, tries to figure out why it is that wolves have such a bad reputation, he thinks maybe its due to the fact that they eat small, cute, furry animals. But that’s not what the story is about; it’s about a sneeze and a cup of sugar. So the wolf was suffering from a cold but was making a cake for his dear old granny but ran out of sugar. Al decided to go and borrow a cup from his neighbor. So the wolf goes to knock on this guys door and the door falls right in. Who builds a house out of straw anyway? Al’s nose starts to itch and he ends up blowing the whole house down. The pig dies from his house falling in and Al doesn’t want to let a good piece of ham to go to waste and gobbles him up. Basically the same thing happens at the next house and once again waste not. At the third little pig’s house Al knocks and asks again for some sugar and the pig is so rude he tells him that his granny can go sit on a pin. Al didn’t like that of course and went a little crazy. The cops showed up and the reporters decided that a story about a sick guy trying to get some sugar wasn’t very good so they cooked up the whole “big and bad” thing. The wolf was framed.

Recommendation
A classic tale with a new viewpoint. I would recommend this to any kids that want something fun to read. Another fun read aloud that would be good even if it was read over and over again.

Problems/Conflict
It’s a little gross that the wolf eats the two little hairy bummed pigs. People often don’t like stories retold but would rather hear the original.

My Reaction
There are always two sides to every story and I like this version the best. The illustrations are awesome and have so much texture in them. There is so much attention put into detail that you could get lost just looking at all the little things.