07/01/2014
Gr 1–2—The Three Pigs are a bit dismayed when they see the Big Bad Wolf move in next door. But when the wolf gets pepper in his nose and eyes while making soup, he calls on his neighbors for water. As he knocks on the first pig's door, his paw goes right through the straw house. Wolf falls through the roof of the second pig's stick house as he attempts to look through a second-story window. When he reaches the third pig's brick house, he finds all three pigs hiding there. After he explains that he only wants some water, they laugh and fill a bucket for wolf before jovially squirting him with a hose. The variations in this tale should be easy for young readers to spot, making this a good book to start discussions about fractured fairy tales. The colorful illustrations serve to move the story along and provide contextual clues for early fluent readers. Discussion prompts for shared reading are appended. Adults reading the tale with young children will find helpful notes on how to promote literacy development through making connections before, during, and after reading.—Lindsay Persohn, University of South Florida, Tampa