The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!

October 1, 1989
In this gaily newfangled version of a classic tale, Scieszka and Smith ( Flying Jake ) argue in favor of the villain, transforming the story of the three little pigs into a playfully suspicious, rather arch account of innocence beleaguered. Quoth the wolf: ``I don't know how this whole Big Bad Wolf thing got started, but it's all wrong.'' According to his first-person testimony, the wolf went visiting the pigs in search of a neighborly cup of sugar; he implies that had the first two happened to build more durable homes and the third kept a civil tongue in his head, the wolf's helpless sneezes wouldn't have toppled them. As for his casual consumption of the pigs, the wolf defends it breezily (``It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw'') and claims cops and reporters ``framed'' him. Smith's highly imaginative watercolors eschew realism, further updating the tale, though some may find their urbane stylization and intentionally static quality mystifyingly adult. Designed with uncommon flair, this alternative fable is both fetching and glib. Ages 3-8.

Convincing one's audience that the well-loved version of a folktale is not to be believed is no easy task. Scieszka re-plots THE THREE LITTLE PIGS with gusto, and Paul Giamatti brings the definitive narration to persuade even the most doubting listener of its veracity. Giamatti's quiet, authoritative voice makes one immediately intimate with Mr. Wolf and eager to hear his account of events. Giamatti takes on the wolf's persona--unflappable and, ultimately, believable. Who would imagine that requesting a cup of sugar from a neighbor could lead to such a misunderstanding of motive, to such a pile of straw and sticks, and to such a misrepresentation in the press? A.R. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine