Book Review - THE HORRID LITTLE PIGS



Book Review – THE THREE HORRID LITTLE PIGS

1.       BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pichon, Liz. 2008.  THE THREE HORRID LITTLE PIGS.  Wilton, CT: Tiger Tails.  ISBN 978-1-58925-077-2

2.       PLOT SUMMARY

This book takes the classic tale of the three little pigs and turns it inside out!  In this story, the pigs are horrid, kicked out of the family home by mama pig.  Realizing they need shelter, the pigs are too lazy to build strong houses, and one just steals their house from the chickens!  Throughout, all of the offers of help from the friendly wolf are rebuffed.  Soon, the piggies become jealous of the wolf’s fine house and plot to take it, but are surprised by the wolf’s kind reaction.  In the end, everyone learns how to work together and the tale ends “happily ever after”.

3.       CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book is a cute, quirky twist on the classic fairy tale of The Three Little Pigs.  The text is visually interesting for the novice reader, moving the words up and down and altering font sizes.  It would make an excellent choice for the reluctant reader.  The story features an excellent message for children about kindness, tolerance, and redemption.  Kids might enjoy the pigs’ rowdy behavior at the beginning, but they will come to understand the error of their ways and cheer as those piggies become happy and productive.  The resolution is happy, if unrealistic, which is a trait of traditional literature.  The bright, colorful pictures are excellent, very entertaining and engaging for children, with plenty of nice details.  All of the animals (with the exception of the horrid little pigs) are warm and cuddly.  See the picture of the birds and baby chickens relaxing by the fire while the wolf reads them a story to see what I mean.  The expressions on all of the characters are spot on, from the pigs’ grimace to the inviting smile of the friendly wolf.  The text and pictures come together in this tale of anthropomorphic animals that learn to get along in peace and harmony.

4.       REVIEW EXCERPTS

Reviewed in the SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “If you think you can't jam another twist on a classic tale into your collection, think again.  The full-color cartoon illustrations capture the pigs' bad behavior and comeuppance with a goofy exuberance. The font size shrinks and enlarges to mirror the action and the text works as a fun read-aloud as well as a read-alone.”

Reviewed in CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: “The surprise ending is a delight.  The parody is fun all the way through to the back end pages, which show the reformed, cleaned-up trio.”

5.       CONNECTIONS

* For more fresh takes on those three little pigs, consider these:

Trivizas, Eugene.  THE THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG. ISBN 978-0689815287

Scieszka, Jon.  THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS.  ISBN 0670827592