Good Morning Everyone! Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday!
I’m a big fan of fractured fairy tales, and the three little pigs is one of my favorites, so I’m excited to share today’s selection 🙂
Title: The Three Little Pigs And The Somewhat Bad Wolf
Written & Illustrated By: Mark Teague
Orchard Books, April 2013, Fiction
Suitable For Ages: 3-7
Themes/Topics: fractured fairy tale, humor, responsibility, girl power
Opening: “Once there were three little pigs. They lived on a farm, as most pigs do, and were happy, as most pigs are. Then one day the farmer told them that he and his wife were moving to Florida. He paid the pigs for their good work and sent them on their way.
“Let’s buy potato chips,” said the first pig.
“Let’s buy sody-pop,” said the second pig.
“Let’s buy building supplies,” said the third pig, who was altogether un-pig-like.“
Brief Synopsis: Three little pigs set off to find a new place to live. One is more interested in potato chips and hanging about in a hammock than building. Another is more interested in sody-pop and mud-bathing than building. Only the third pig (who is also the only girl in the group!) is smart enough to use her money for building supplies and her time for building. Then, along comes the big, somewhat bad wolf… 🙂
Links To Resources: I think it would be fun to read the original Three Little Pigs, and then a bunch of other versions including Corey Schwartz’s The Three Ninja Pigs, Jon Scieszka’s The True Story Of The Three Little Pigs, Eugene Trivizas’s The Three Little Wolves And The Big Bad Pig, and any others you might come across and compare how the stories are alike and different and which elements the author chose to change or twist and how that affects the story. Here is a link to a lesson plan for the original Three Little Pigs.
Why I Like This Book: I love fractured fairy tales, and I love Mark Teague’s sense of humor. This is an entertaining twist on the familiar tale, in which the only girl pig is the one who builds a strong house, eats healthy food, and comes up with a solution for the wolf. I love the details in Mr. Teague’s art. My favorite page is the one where the wolf tries to get something to eat at the donut shop, the hot dog stand, and the pizza parlor 🙂
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
PPBF bloggers, please add your post-specific link to the list below so we can all come see what you picked this week!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Susanna Leonard Hill 
I think I MUST read this book! I LOVE fractured fairytales! 😀 And it's just silly!
How funny. Girl power! Hannah read the ninja one before the original – oops!
I have an FF for next week. Looking forward to your course today!
It certainly is silly – I think you will like it! It had my son chuckling and he's 17 🙂 My goodness you are up early!
The girl power thing is understated – which I like – she has a blue bow to distinguish her from the boys 🙂 Looking forward to having you in the course! 🙂
My 17 year old son and I stood in the bookstore and read this and we were BOTH laughing 🙂
We just never tire of this constellation, do we! I find it fascinating just how many tales can be spun out of this! Just yesterday I read Triviza's book – research for another version as an exercise for my local critique group (hint, hint – next contest…!). Enjoy your weekend!
I know – why is it we love these so? 🙂 Next contest is coming up… first week of July. I'm still deciding what to do, but thinking I'd better post it early so people have time to write 🙂
I loved the fresh take on the the three little pigs tale, especially the part about eating potato chips and sleeping in a hammock!
It is rather fun 🙂
pigs and chips in hammocks – awesome! I am always game for reading a new take on an old tale.
Especially when it involves chips and lying in a hammock 🙂
I like fractured fairy tales, too. This looks like a great one!
A couple weeks ago when I was at my sister's house, her kids had me read this new book they had and I LOVED it: Wild about Books by Judy Sierra. Have you read it? I got a copy for himself because I liked it so much! The illustrations are really fun, too.
Happy reading and writing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines
Ooh, I haven't read it, but thanks for the recommendation! I will have to go check it out! 🙂
I haven't read this one, but I want to say Go, Girl, Go!
This one looks great. Thanks for the review.
I LOVE fractured fairy tales. I'm pinning this!
I'm a fan of Mark Teague's art! I also am a fan of fractured fairy tales. 🙂 I wrote a riff on the three little pigs, but it's for the adult spec-fic market (so it involves anthropologists and cannibalism…haha). It'll be in an e-anthology my SF critique group is putting together for charity. Have you checked out Enchanted Conversation before, Susanna? It's not for kids but it's all fairy tales, all the time. http://www.fairytalemagazine.com
I'll definitely take a look at this one!
Happy weekend and am thrilled to be taking your class!!!
This sounds like a book I must read. 🙂
I just saw your book in the library yesterday and thumbed through it. It's a very colorful and lively book. So glad you reviewed this new version. Love fractured fairy tales.
I had a field trip today… I had to be at school at 6:15 (and it's a 15 minute drive to town/school)…. *YAWN*
I too, love fractured fairy tales and this book seems like one I'l love to take from the library. thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Fractured Fairytales!!! *LOVE!* Looks like a fun read!
I thought I had read this one, but now I don't think I have! Yay! A new fractured fairy tale to read!! (I love them, too). And aren't you awesome for providing a lesson plan? You just amaze me.
I couldn't agree more! I haven't read this version, but between the artist and the theme (and the potato chips) I'm hooked. I can't wait to try your marathon activity. Thanks.
Love this one, Susanna! At the last school presentation I did, the kids had been studying storytelling and had a table FILLED with three little pigs' books.
Just got back from the AFCC conference in Singapore…energized from the people I met and the sessions I attended! The only things I bought were…picture books! Will try to do a review of one of them for PPBF…but it might not be until tomorrow. 🙂 Slowly but surely trying to wade thru emails and laundry. 🙂
Hmmm…just noticed that my gravatar is gone and my disqus comment number is 1 instead of 99…oh well, disqus doesn't like me, I guess. 🙂
Love your PPB Susanna. Go Girl Power….lol.
Looks great!
It's s fun one 🙂
I love that it's kind of subtle, but very much there 🙂 The girl is distinguished by her blue bow 🙂
Settings
She's the sensible one – builds a strong house, grows a vegetable garden so she can prepare a healthy dinner, etc. while the boys are snacking and snoozing 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it, Rosi! I hope you get a chance to see the book – the art is really fun!
Settings
Thanks, Barbara – and it IS a fun one! 🙂
Settings
Thanks for the link, Teresa! I will check it out. And I'm thrilled to have you in my class 🙂 I can already tell this is going to be quite a month! 🙂
I think you'd get a kick out of it, Tracy! And the art is really fun too!
I do too, Pat. I don't know why they're so appealing, but they are always among my favorites (if done well :))
Settings
Where did you go? I hope it was tons of fun!
It's a fun one – the story is cute and the art is very entertaining 🙂
It made ME laugh 🙂
It's very new – April 30 I think – and very fun. I think you would like it 🙂
Settings
It's brand new, and very entertaining. I don't know why I think the term “sody-pop” is so funny 🙂
What an experience you must have had, Vivian! 🙂 Can't wait to hear about it, and see your new picture books 🙂
Disqus apparently doesn't like me either. I don't think anyone else in the world has this much trouble with it. But up until a couple days ago, I actually thought it was working better and a bunch of people who hadn't been able to comment for a while were suddenly able to again… who knows?!
The Philadelphia zoo. It was HOT… around 90*F
Neat trip! But I bet the animals were hot too and probably just laid around 🙂
Mark Teague, pigs and fractured fairy tales – can't go wrong with that combination!
It is a good one, Rhythm, even though it's not about dogs 🙂 You must be familiar with Dear Mrs. LaRue! 🙂
Settings
I'm so far behind that I'm just getting to this PPBF!!! This book sounds funny, funny, funny! I'm a fractured fairy tale fan, too! Love them! So, I am definitely adding this to my library list!
I figured you'd like this one, Penny, it's right up your alley 🙂 And it's kind of you to catch up with PPBF – I can't say I'm doing as well with that myself as I should be 🙂
Hi, can i ask you something? You seem to know a lot about children books
and illustrations. The thing is, I’m looking for children books with
“scary” animal illustrations like the big bad wolf (or a fox) eating
pigs (or seven kids or Red Riding hood or birds in Chicken Little) or
being pictured with a fat stomach. Could be any other animal as well. I
need it for my research. Any sort of help is appreciated. Thanks in
advance.