The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf by Mark Teague

   

Okay, I will admit to feeling a dislike over the way the wolf was portrayed in the original fairytale, The Three Little Pigs, which was first published in 1890 by Joseph Jacobs in his compilation, English Fairy Tales.  I always felt that this fairy tale tends to leave young, impressionable children with a misunderstanding and a misguided fear of an animal that is today, sadly, endangered.
    However, just by reading the front cover byline of Mark Teague (the author), as well as his familiar lively style of front cover illustration of three smiling little piggies cuddled together in a hug, with a little grey and white wolf with a shy expression peering over them, I was ready to give this tale a second chance, to discover just exactly how Teague would give this fairytale a fresh new spin.
     The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf  begins slightly differently than the original fairy tale does, as a farmer and his wife inform their three pigs that they have decided to pack it in for the sunny, welcoming skies and warm temperatures of Florida.  Paying each of the pigs for their loyalty for years of labor, we soon see the apparent differences between each of the three pigs.  Two of the pigs choose to build their new homes cheaply, saving their money for their constant cravings for potato chips and soda.  The third little pig, far more practical than her siblings, builds a beautiful, sturdy brick home, complete with a vegetable garden.
      But alas, breaking the harmony of the three little pigs surroundings comes a grey wolf, who is not without his own issues.  At first, like the two little pigs, he is guided by his stomach, but displays low self doubt at his strength (on his first successful try at blowing down the house of the little pig who built his house out of straw, can't believe his very eyes at his accomplishment.  "I can't believe that worked," he said.  He had never blown down a house before." And, when he fails at blowing down the third little pigs house, the three siblings find him on the ground, passed out! The three little pigs show the wolf some compassion, and take him in, where he awakens, thoroughly embarrassed at his behavior and reveals, "I was so hungry, I could not think straight!"
     Teague's charming take is truly such a delightful read.  It stays in character and not once, does he bore his audience with a heavy-handed message.  He simply makes his points, as with this version, with an even-handed approach to show little ones how the choices one makes throughout their life are so important.  Truly a must have in your home library as well as in schools!

The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf
Written & Illustrated by Mark Teague
Publisher:  Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic (2013)
Website:  www.scholastic.com
ISBN:  978-0-439-91501-4
Retails for $16.95 (Hardcover)
For ages 3 to 5