Three Hungry Pigs and the Wolf Who Came to Dinner

Bibliography
Santores, Charles. 2005. Three Hungry Pigs and the Wolf Who Came to Dinner. New York, NY: Random House Children's Books ISBN 0-37582946-6


Plot Analysis
Bianca the pig and her two piglets are exceptionally good truffle hunters. One day while Bianca and her piglets are out hunting truffles for the farmer, Bianca eats one of the truffles instead of just hunting it, giving her a taste for them which she cannot resist. The farmer kicks Bianca and her truffle-eating family off the farm and out into the woods. Bianca doesn't mind the woods once she realizes they can eat as many truffles as they want, until a huge, intimidating wolf appears. To avoid being eaten, Bianca pops a truffle into the wolf's mouth and, in a twist of fate, he likes it so much they soon become fast friends. When the other wolves see the tasty looking pigs and go to attack, their new wolf friend protects them and they all live happily ever after together eating truffles.


Critical Analysis
At first glance, Three Hungry Pigs and the Wolf Who Came Dinner appears to be be along the same lines as the timeless tale of the The Three Pigs, but almost immediately the story takes a unique twist and the plot becomes that of an original story, taking bits and pieces from the classic. It uses the grouping of three pigs multiple times. The story starts out with three piglets purchased from a market to hunt truffles and then Bianca has two piglets that form another group of three pigs. Once in the woods the classic pig adversary, the big bad wolf appears, but Bianca is able to ward off his bad intentions with a truffle and they all become friends.


The illustrations in the book are filled with rich, warm colors and very specific details. The setting is a small, Italian village and Santores captures it perfectly through his color choices. The attention to detail, such as shadows, background detail, and the expressions of the animals make you want to pause on each page and appreciate the artwork.


Review Excerpts
"The detail of the full-page paintings and full-bleed spreads beautifully reinforces the emotions and actions of the tale. A good choice for one-on-one sharing or to juxtapose with a story of a big bad wolf." –Catherine Callegari, San Antonio Public Library, TX    


"No huffing and puffing occurs in this tale from the creator of The Camel's Lament (2004) and numerous folklore re-tellings, but one finds stray whiffs of both "The Three Little Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood" in its unusual story line." -Jennifer Matson, ALA

Connections

*Compare with more traditional versions of The Three Pigs
*Have children make a web map to compare similarities and differences between books

*Have children vote on which book they like better to help them develop opinions about literature