The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka

Traditional/Folk

Unlike the original story of "The Three Little Pigs", this tale is told from the wolf's perspective. The wolf's story is quite different from the famous tale involving an angry, hungry wolf attacking innocent little pigs. This wolf, who happened to have a head cold at the time, was baking a cake for his grandmother when he discovered he needed a cup of sugar. Since his nearest neighbors were the three little pigs, he walked to each of their houses to find some sugar for his cake. Of course the first house he came to, the pig had made his house out of straw. After knocking on the door (and the door falling in, because it was made from straw), the wolf sneezed a great sneeze, causing the house to fall down. The pig, dead from his house falling on top of him, would have been a wasted meal if the wolf had not eaten him. Now, can you blame him? The wolf proceeded to the second house, where similar occurrences took place, and then to the third house. This is where the wolf was caught by the cops, in what looked like, attempted murder. The story ends with the wolf in jail, wrongfully accused, and with a plea for readers to believe him and give him a cup of sugar. All students know the story of the Three Little Pigs, but this story puts a new perspective on the tale. This book would be a great opportunity for a teacher to discuss perspective with students. Even with older elementary students, this book could provide an opportunity to discuss the point of view of the character telling the story and would allow for a creative writing experience. The students could create a story using their own perspective to a tale such as this one. They could invent a different way of looking at a popular tale, just by changing the perspective. This would help students develop their critical thinking skills, along with their writing and communication abilities.