The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

by Eugene Trivizas, Helen Oxenbury (Illustrator)

Overview

When it comes time for the three little wolves to go out into the world and build themselves a house, their mother warns them to beware the big bad pig. But the little wolves' increasingly sturdy dwellings are no match for the persistent porker, who has more up his sleeve than huffing and puffing. It takes a chance encounter with a flamingo pushing a wheelbarrow full of flowers to provide a surprising and satisfying solution to the little wolves' housing crisis.
Eugene Trivizas's hilarious text and Helen Oxenbury's enchanting watercolors have made this delightfully skewed version of the traditional tale a contemporary classic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689815287
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	04/01/1997
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	31,091
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Helen Oxenbury is the renowned illustrator of many classic picture books, including We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas. Ms. Oxenbury lives with her husband, illustrator John Burningham, in North London.

Editorial Reviews

ISBN 0-689-81528-X. PW's starred review applauded the "laugh-out-loud results" of this talented team's clever interpretation, calling it "among the wittiest fractured fairy tales around." Ages 5-10. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

PreS-Gr 3-``Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails....'' They go out into the world to build a house for themselves only to be menaced by a big bad pig. In a clever switch on the familiar counterparts, these sweet-faced innocents use brick, concrete, and steel constructions, but their nemesis is not called big and bad for nothing. With sledgehammer, pneumatic drill, and dynamite, the pig wrecks each structure. ``Something must be wrong with our building materials,'' the wolves muse. Their final house is build from flowers, insubstantial yet beautiful. It is their lovely scent that causes the pig to change his nasty ways and all live together as friends happily ever after. The text has the repeating situations and phrases from the traditional version. 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.-Karen James, Louisville Free Public Library, KY

School Library Journal

Mama sends her three little wolves out into the world, but each time they build their new house—with bricks, then cement, then concrete blocks—the pig outsmarts them with modern destructive devices, until finally they win him over with flowers. The combination of Trivizas’s refreshing and humorous version of the familiar story, the jaunty musical accompaniment, and the comprehensive sound effects is enhanced by Brian Bowles’s delightful narration—especially his wonderful voices for all the characters, major and minor. His comic timing is perfect, and his lovely accent adds to the folksy tone of the story. Great fun for children and adults. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 07 - AudioFile