Customer Reviews

The Three Pigs

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I find 'The Three Pigs' - an Irresistible kids Stuff apart from the many stories like Hansel & Gretel, Snow White, Cinderella, etc. The kids love to read the tale 'The wolf huffed & puffed' and blew the house is just a repeat that the kids love to say and find out how the pigs escaped and finally, as a great picture read, the book is a imaginery fantasy. Like many other books of this tale, David Wiesner's book is a grab as it has good illustrations, dialogue balloons and style that draw attention, is a great adventure into fantasy world. A good story that kids love and a good Pick 'The Three Pigs by David Wiesner'

I am a student at West Virginia State College University. I am currently enrolled in a Children's Literature class. My professor, Mr. Samples had us to choose a Caldecott Award winning book. I chose this book because I have been a huge "three little pigs fan" since I was little. I think it has fabulous pictures. I think the book is unique because the author has changed the plot a little, as opposed to the older version.

This book begins as the story of the three little pigs, but before long the pigs have decided they want to be change the story around a bit. Through their travels, the pigs enter nursery rhymes and other tales, liberating other characters as they go. After awhile the three pigs decide to return to their original story, but they still refuse to follow the instructions of the text. The wolf may still be waiting for them, but he cannot defeat their new friend the dragon.

One of the chief delights of Wiesner's book is the variations in artistic style. When the three pigs are on the pages of their original story, Wiesner draws them in one style. When the pigs escape their tale they become much more realistic looking. For each story they enter, the pigs take on that particular artistic style and color palate. Wiesner's tale is a pleasure, not only for his novel take on the story of the three little pigs, but for the amusing liberties the pigs take with the pages of their story (making paper airplanes) and the text on the page (rearranging it to suit them).

My kids LOVE this book. They want to read it again and again. The three pigs escape from the big bad wolf by leaving the story, and then they return with a dragon for a surprise ending. The first couple of times we read the book, my son could not stop laughing! After reading the book numerous times, my kids developed other ideas of things that could happen in other stories. It facilitated growth in their creativity and imagination. I would not recommend the book for children under 4 as they probably would not understand it.

David Wiesner's, clever twist on "The Three Little Pigs," takes a story that we all know, and had the pigs escape from the wolf and out of the story itself. The pigs fly off on a paper airplane stopping periodically at other stories. While they are stopping at other stories, they begin to rescue more and more characters along the way.

The author and artist, David Wiesner, used watercolor, gouache, colored inks, pencil and colored pencil on Fabriano hot press paper in order to capture the illustrations in his book, "The Three Pigs." I enjoy the illustrator's use of two kinds of artistic styles within one picture. For example, on the third page, Wiesner illustrates the pig in the fairytale as more of a cartoon style. Whereas, when the pig is exiting the fairytale, the illustrator makes the pig more realistic by using colored pencils. I think by using the different styles within the picture, it allows the reader to really understand and visualize the pig falling out of the fairytale. This technique is used throughout the book, when a character is leaving or entering a fairytale. The technique is used with different variations on certain pages. In the scene with the, "Cat and the Fiddle," the pigs turn into very cartoon-like characters, and in the tale about the dragon, the pigs turn into black and white pen and ink drawings.
Another technique that I really appreciated in this book was the pages within a page. Wiesner used the play on fairytale pages to illustrate the pigs in the, "real world."
Although, this book uses wonderful and creative illustrations, I think it would be a difficult concept for small children to grasp. Some small children barely have the concept of the original, "Three Little Pigs," let alone a big twist such as this one, especially with the addition of other fairytales. However, I do think that this book would be a good choice for slightly older readers such as kids aged 9-12. They will be able to grasp the concept and follow the storyline a little bit better than their younger counterparts.

My daughter LOVES the three little pigs story and anything to do with the big bad wolf. Since she's only three, she did NOT get this story at all when the pigs started jumping 'out' of the storyline. It was a waste of time for a small child and I don't think it is interesting enough for an older one. The pictures are good and my daughter was excited to see the dragon.

Perhaps this "warped" tale of The Three Little Pigs is meant for BOTH children AND adults. Fans of "The Fractured Fairy Tales" segment of the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" series, as well as readers of "The Stinky Cheese Man and other Tales", will get a kick out of these revisionist telling of the fairy tale standard. Short on text, the book has engaging artwork and an off-the-wall sense of humor that would appeal to the kid in all of us.

The illustrations are wonderful but the story will need a little explanation the first couple of times it is read, as it could prove hard for little folk to follow. However, my two older kids really liked it! Recommended for ages 5-8.

This book is definitely not for young kids. I love reading to my 3 year old and he loves to listen to stories. The first few pages were like the traditional 3 pigs story and then it got wierd. It's not a story. The illustrations were great but it's more for adults than children. I was dissapointed after reading the other rave reviews.

As a parent with three young children who love to listen to stories, I was very dissapointed with this book. The illustrations were wonderful, but the storyline was cleary satire at a level small children would never understand. It makes me wonder if all the other glowing remarks from the other reviewers ever really read to children. This is strictly a coffee table book for adults!