The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Did the story of the three little pigs ever seem slightly biased to you? All that huffing and puffing--could one wolf really be so unequivocally evil? Finally, we get to hear the rest of the story, "as told to author Jon Scieszka", straight from the wolf's mouth. As Alexander T. Wolf explains it, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing was just a big misunderstanding. Al Wolf was minding his own business, making his granny a cake, when he realized he was out of a key ingredient. He innocently went from house to house (one made of straw, one of sticks and one of bricks) asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Could he help it if he had a bad cold, causing him to sneeze gigantic, gale-force sneezes? Could he help it if pigs these days use shabby construction materials? And after the pigs had been ever-so-accidentally killed, well, who can blame him for having a snack?

As with The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, (another stellar collaboration by Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith), children who know all the old stories by heart will delight in reading impudent new versions. Here, Scieszka's text is clever, savvy and pithy, and Smith's stretchy-strange illustrations complete this funny, irreverent, thoroughly original tale.

View other editions of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
View books by Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith.

A truly great version of the three little pigs: the wolf's side of the story! - Rated
There are two sides to every story and this fun book tells the three little pigs story from the much maligned Wolf's side. Told in the first person, Mr Wolf explains how the well known version is a misconception and the real story began when he started to make a cake for his dear old granny, needed to borrow a cup of sugar from a neighbour, and sneezed the house down resulting in a terrible misunderstanding. Once the house has fallen down killing the poor pig, it would have been a shame to waste such a great ham dinner! And once the newspaper got hold of the story and hammed it up (excuse the terrible pun), the article gave a dog a bad name...... and poor Mr Wolf was cast as the bad guy through and through.
This is an imaginative retelling and an entertaining story. The illustrations are great, a tad dark but not scary, and match the plot perfectly. In addition, it's interesting for children to see that there are often two different sides to any story. Brilliant!

A brilliant re-take of the story - Rated
This book is all about point of view.
Told for the first time from the point of view of the "Big, bad wolf", the story of what really happened that day with the three little pigs and their houses sounds quite different. The main facts are the same - you can't contest that the houses actually fell down and the pigs were gone, but was it the wolf's fault?
Interpreted by the wolf, the story takes on a completely different character and we begin to wonder about those really rude and unhelpful pigs. It is also told with great humour that should have children of all ages laughing.
The book shows readers that there are always two sides to every story and that the facts alone are often insufficient. Written by the winners, the story is obviously going to be biased in their favour. But when written by the loser - will it be truth? It's certainly very different (apart from being hilarious).

Very very funny. Children and Adults will love it - Rated
I read this book to a group of Year2 children (age 6-7), and they loved it. It is very very funny and the children and myself laughed right through it. Definately worth reading.