The Three Pigs

Rating:
Summary: Illustrations may be hard for Youngsters to Fully Comprehend
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: No Ordinary Fairy Tale
Review: Everyone knows the story of The Three Pigs. They build their houses of straw and wood and brick. The big bad wolf comes and huffs and puffs and... David Wiesner has taken this old tale and given it a clever and very inventive twist. Instead of being eaten, the pigs escape, take their book apart to confuse and keep the wolf away, build a paper airplane and fly off on a fairy tale adventure of their own. Mr Wiesner keeps his humorous text spare and simple and let's his marvelous artwork tell the story. Youngster's imaginations will soar as they examine the colorful, expressive and detailed illustrations. Perfect for children 4-8, The Three Pigs tells an old familiar story in a new, creative and innovative way and is a MUST for all home libraries.

Rating:
Summary: New twists to the old storyline offer fun for older children
Review: I bought this book to read to a group of 5-year-olds. However, I think it is too sophistocated for them. One must understand the basic story of the Three Little Pigs and several other nursery rhymes follow the twists of circumstances that lets all three pigs escape uneaten.
The illustrations show the wolf blowing the first little pig out of the story, the pages falling apart and folding into a paper plane on which the 3 pigs fly into Hey Diddle Diddle, meet a fire-breathing dragon, and revise the original story's ending. Very, very creative and funny!!! I can't wait to read it to an older group of boys and girls.

Rating:
Summary: Irresistible kid's Pick
Review: 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'

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Summary: A wonderful "what if" tale
Review: 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).

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Summary: CUTE AS....A PIG'S EAR!
Review: Who hasn't heard of the old-time favourite classic for children, "The Three Little Pigs"? This delightful book has all the adventures of the original three little pigs and then some. The illustrations and cute adventures which take place in Wiesner's book are sure to produce a smile or two. You will find a dragon, the cat-in the fiddle and the cow jumping over the moon - and who said, "pigs don't fly?" This is a beautiful book that is bound to warm the heart of any young child. It makes a terrific bedtime story or anytime story and what a wonderful way to share one of those special moments with your child.

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Summary: A Postmodern Version for Children and Adults
Review: Wow! This is one great book both for children and adults. The story is not The Three Little Pigs that we all know so well, but a postmodern version called The Three Pigs that expands laterally and not chronologically. The Three Little Pigs is a traditional modern tale whose moral is to postpone pleasure and protect yourself. The characters are flat, the story predictable, and, once you know it, dull. Here, in the postmodern version, the characters are multidimentional and the story not predictable. In fact, the pigs fall out of the text, complain about being eaten by the wolf, go on a paper airplane ride, meet up with the cat in the fiddle and a dragon, cutting across many different levels of culture. Adults may be puzzled, but the kids catch on right away and love it. Encouraged by the power of imagination, the kids start to make up their own versions. Parents, fear not. The pigs in David Wiesner's award winning version - all three of them - end up back at home in the brick house safe from the wolf and in famous company (dragon and cat), living happily ever after together.