The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone

 Module 2: Book Review 1

Bibliography:  Galdone, P. (1987). The Three Little Pigs. Clarion.

ISBN: 0899192750

Plot Summary

This is the classical tale of The Three Little Pigs, All three of the pigs say goodbye to their mother and leave to seek their fortune. Following the traditional tale of the straw, stick, and brick house, the wolf will huff and puff his way through. But Paul Galdone does not follow the modern trend with the happily ever after. We started with four characters and ended with only one. I highly recommend reading to discover who that is.

Critical Analysis

   Paul Galdone’s retelling of the traditional folktale The Three Little Pigs is a playful yet cautionary tale with a touch of darkness. Galdone’s tale is ideal for introducing concepts like narrative structure, repetition, morality, and consequence. In the story, he kept the rhythmic phrases, “I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down.” Keeping this part allows students who are familiar with the story to read along. The dark and traditional outcome brings the shock to students and sucks their interest back into the story. Their use of hearing softens stories, making them question if I read the story correctly or if they heard it correctly. As I visited the next pigs' houses, their fear or shock was confirmed, and it is amazing to watch their feelings change, too. Some experienced anger, others felt sad for the other pigs. The ending with the wolf being boiled always creates shock and outrage. This leaves students begging for me to read it again. 

     Paul Galdone’s illustrations show expressive animals, even though they are just animals. Even though this story has darkness, the drawings are done lightly, and it does not make it scary for students.

Review Excerpts

“A very appealing edition of a beloved story.”— School Library Journal

Connections

• This story is great to use for sequencing.

• Use of strong vocabulary words for students to learn and to act out to help with memory. Bundle: With the right hand, wrap two fingers around the left hand's 5 fingers to show bundling. Sow: push nose up like a pig and snort. Fortune: rub fingers together and say ching ching.

• Use for math, telling time.

• Great for using as a writing prompt. Students can write other ways that the pig can trick the wolf. 

• A science experiment can be to make butter and how it was made with a butter churn.