BIBLIOGRAPHY
Title: The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
Author: Eugene Trivizas
Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: September 30, 1993
ISBN: 978-0689505690
PLOT SUMMARY
In this inverted version of the fable The Three Little Pigs, three little wolves are pursued by the Big Bad Pig. With the help of various animal friends, the wolves build a house out of brick, a house out of concrete, and a house out of barbed wire, iron bars, and armor plates. Each house is destroyed by the Big Bad Pig, who cannot huff and puff these houses down, so instead resorts to a sledgehammer, a pneumatic drill, and even dynamite. The three little wolves decide that their building materials must be the problem, and build themselves a beautiful house of flowers. When the Big Bad Pig huffs and puffs the flowers, the fragrant scent softens his heart and he realizes the error of his ways. The three little wolves invite the Big Bad Pig to play and live with them.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Like the traditional fable, the characters of The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig represent the archetypes of good and evil. A major change in the story is the lack of violence, which delineates the difference between good and evil more in this version. In the traditional version, the two of the pigs are devoured by the wolf. The third pig in the house of brick boils the wolf alive and then cooks and eats him. The only harm to the wolves in this version is that their "fluffy tails are scorched." Rather than tricking the pig by violent means, they find a peaceful way to stop his destruction and even form a lifelong friendship.
Oxenbury's illustration adds to these archetypes, drawing the wolves as adorable. These character designs supplemented by the description "three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails." Meanwhile, the Big Bad Pig is illustrated as a menacing villain, grimacing throughout the book.
The plot follows the formula of the traditional tale, but with the stakes increased. Rather than a house made of straw and a house of sticks, the story uses building materials that may be more familiar to children - bricks, concrete, and metal. Since these materials are so sturdy, the Big Bad Pig humorously is not able to huff and puff these houses down and instead destroys the houses in wild spectacles.
The story and illustrations are humorous from the first page, starting with the illustration of the mother wolf in bed wearing curlers in her hair. Children will be tickled by the wolves playing human games including croquet and battledore and shuttlecock. Even the cover is humorous, showing the three little wolves sitting on a scaffold eating lunch like construction workers. Oxenbury deftly handles color and their illustration medium to create exciting pages, including a two-page spread of an explosion, while also creating beautiful and soft moments, such as the wolves building their house made of flowers.
AWARDS
1994 ALSC Notable Children's Books
REVIEW EXCERPTS
"In his English-language debut, Trivizas laces the text with funny, clever touches, from an ensemble of animals who obligingly donate whatever building materials the wolves require, to the wolves' penultimate, armor-plated residence replete with a "video entrance phone" over which the pig can relay his formulaic threats. Oxenbury's watercolors capture the story's broad humor and add a wealth of supplementary details, with exquisite renderings of the wolves' comic temerity and the pig's bellicose stances. Among the wittiest fractured fairytales around." - Publishers Weekly
"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." - School Library Journal
"Never mind the other incarnations of this tale--classic, fractured, rapped; this inversion will have children giggling from the outset." - Kirkus Reviews
CONNECTIONS
Enrichment activities: There are several variants of The Three Little Pigs. Teachers and librarians can engage children in studying this fable and comparing and contrasting variants.
Related books:
Scieszka, J., & Smith, L. (1989). The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! New York, NY: Viking Kestrel Picture Books.
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Teague, M. (2018). The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf. New York, NY: Cartwheel Books.
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Gunderson, J., & Bernardini, C. L. (2016). No Lie, Pigs (and Their Houses) Can Fly!: The Story of the Three Little Pigs as Told by the Wolf. North Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books.
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Schwartz, C. R., & Santat, D. (2012). The Three Ninja Pigs. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers.
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Disney, R. H. (2004). The Three Little Pigs. New York, NY: Golden/Disney.
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Wiesner, D. (2001). The Three Pigs. Boston, MA: Clarion Books.
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Marshall, J. (2000). The Three Little Pigs. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap.
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Lowell, S., & Harris, J. (1992). The Three Little Javelinas. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square Publishing.
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