Book Review of The Three Little Pigs by Ed Bryan

 

1.      Bibliography

Bryan, E. 2016. The three little pigs. Candlewick Press. ISBN: 9780763686550

2.      Plot Summary

Three little pigs are finally old enough to go out and build houses of their own.  The first two pigs build their house out of straw and sticks.  The third little pig takes his time and builds his house out of bricks.  One day a wolf comes along and asks the pigs to come in.  He blows the straw and stick houses down while the little pigs run to their brother’s house made of bricks.  When the wolf tries to blow down the brick house, he is unsuccessful and decides to go up the chimney.  The little pig puts a bot of boiling water under the chimney and the wolf gets burned and is never seen again. 

3.      Critical Analysis

In this story three little pigs go out to build their own houses.  Their mother warns them about a big bad wolf that is in the forest.  We follow the pigs in a typical reenactment of the story we have come to love.  We have a house of straw, sticks, and bricks.  You can tell the pigs are fond of each other because they each build their house very close to one another.  The text is big for little children to easily follow along.  “Bang! Bang! Bang!” is written in all capital letters with exclamation points to show the emotion of the wolf. 

 

The illustrations by Bryan are colorful and show give the children a beautiful picture to look at.  When the pigs first leave the house, you can see the anxious look on the first two pigs’ faces but the third pig looks happy and hopeful.  You can also see the panic in the first pigs’ faces when the wolf is climbing up the chimney, but their brother’s face is calm and determined.  I love how the wolf checks turn red when he blows the housed down and you can see the air blow around when he huffs and puffs. 

 

Children will be familiar with the story and love predicting what happens next.  They will also learn that you should take your time and build something with care instead of rushing through your work. 

4.      Review Excerpt(s)

Excellent design and illustrations successfully turn a popular storybook app into an appealing picture book. —Kirkus Reviews

5.      Connections

*This book follows along with the typical story of the three little pigs.  I would have the students choral read with me on the dialogue between the wolf and pigs because that is the part the kids love to read. 

*I would have the students use blocks to build their own strong house that they think would stand against the wolf.  They can test their houses by blowing on them to see if they fall over.