The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf

Scieszka, J. (1989). The true story of the 3 little pigs by A. Wolf. New York: Scholastic.

This book is somewhat different than the original story because it is told by A. Wolf. Wolf goes on a journey in order to borrow a cup of sugar so that he can make a birthday cake for his granny. The first two pigs do not answer the door and the wolf begins to feel a great big sneeze coming. Wolf is shocked to discover that these two pigs both die because of his powerful sneeze. Was it an accident? According to Wolf this was definately an accident! The third pig is very rude to A. Wolf and doesn't let him enter. The third pig yells something rude to Wolf about his granny and this creates fury inside of the Wolf. Wolf wrote this story in order to let people know that "he was framed." This is a wonderful and funny story that will make kids giggle and understand the point of view of the protagonist in a story. Students will realize that it is always good to understand both point of views and sides to any story. In the real world, everyone must listen to both sides to a story in order to understand a situation and how to solve the problem. As a child I really enjoyed the story because I enjoyed the funny story and the interesting illustrations. The illustrations were interesting to me because of the media that was used. Lane Smith, illustrator of The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, used oil paints and textured with newspaper clippings. The newspaper on the front of the cover made it look as though it were an actual story told from the wolf in jail. Since I loved to read newspapers and watch the news as a child, I was drawn to the cover of the book. Some questions I had while reading were..."Was the wolf lying and trying to plead innocent so that he could be released from jail?" "Were the pigs the actual bad guys in the story?" This story helps readers understand that there are always two sides of the story. It may even give some a different outlook on life. A BIG question that I would ask my students is..."Why do you think you should always hear more than one side of a story?"