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The Three Pigs

It all starts out quite fine and familiar with "once upon a time," but very quickly in David Wiesner's original, brilliantly conceived version of The Three Little Pigs, things take a very unusual turn. "Hey, he blew me right out of the story!" exclaims the first little pig after the wolf does his huffing and puffing. And though it takes the wolf a little while longer to notice, the three little pigs have, indeed, made their from the book where they had once seemed destined to perish. They cavort with glee against the blank white backdrop of storyless pages, then fold one of the pages of the now pigless story into a paper airplane and soar. A rough landing results in a scary foray into the pages of a nursery rhyme book full of saccharine illustrations. They leave with the cat-and-the-fiddle tagging along, making their way into a tale of castles and dragons. With the dragon about to be slayed, the pigs help him escape. Their continued passage through the pages of books eventually leads them back to their original story, but they recast it in their own terms: a dragon makes a very powerful ally. Children, young teenagers, and adults, too, will find great pleasure and humor in the highly unexpected turns of this tale. © Cooperative Children's Book Center

Illustrated by David Wiesner

CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 4 and older
Age Range: PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Format: Picture book
Subjects: Animals (Fiction) Fractured Fairy Tales Humor

Publisher: Clarion
Publish Year: 2001
Pages: 40
ISBN: 0618007016

CCBC Location: Picture Book, Wiesner

The Three Pigs