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I loved the story of the three little pigs when I was little. But what happened to those little pigs? What happened to the wolf? There was a happy ending—right? Many years later I couldn’t really remember. But I didn’t want to re-read the story until I had written my own version. But when I did; good grief! I’d forgotten! The wolf met his end in a stew pot as did two of the little pigs. Well, that’s NOT what happens in my story!

FRACTURED FAIRY TALES

A number of teachers tell me they use Where’s the Big Bad Wolf? for their unit on ‘fractured fairy tales’. What’s a ‘fractured fairy tale’? It’s an old and favorite tale told in a new and unique way.

1. Ask your students if they remember the fairy tale of the three little pigs and big bad wolf. How do they remember the story? Do they all tell the same version?

2. Read a traditional version of the tale. I recommend Margot Zemach’s The Three Little Pigs.

3. Read Where’s the Big Bad Wolf?

4. Ask your students how the two stories differ and how they are the same.

Here are some things to consider:

• Characters —Make a list of the characters in the two stories.
• Resolution of the story.
• Important events
• The houses the pigs build
• The structure of the story. First the straw house is blown down, then the stick house, etc.

Write a story:

Have your students write their own ‘fractured’ versions of The Three Little Pigs. They can use different characters, points of view, settings, house building materials, etc.

Other versions:

There are quite a few ‘fractured fairy tale’ versions of The Three Little Pigs. Have your students see how many they can find in your school library and town library.

A few I can think of:

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Helen Oxenbury

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by A. Wolf as told to Jon Scieszka

Discuss how these tales differ from the first two you read. How are they the same?

DESCRIPTIVE VOCABULARY

Make a list of the words Detective Doggedly uses to describe the big bad wolf.

LOOK CLOSELY AT THE ILLUSTRATIONS

Many of the illustrations contain hints about what is going on. They tell you things about the story that the words don’t. On which pages does this happen?