The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

 The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

Bibliography

Trivizas, Eugene. 1993. THE THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG. Ill. by Helen                Oxenbury. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks. ISBN 9780689815287

Plot Summary

Trivizas's twist on the age old tale has the three little wolves leaving home to build a place of their own. Unlike in the original story, the wolves start out with building a brick house which the big bad pig, after the usual huffs and puffs, destroys with a sledgehammer. The wolves go bigger with concrete and iron and armor plates, but the pig just uses a jackhammer and dynamite to demolish the houses. The wolves then use a surprising material, flowers, which smell so good and refreshing that smelling them convinces the big bad pig to turn into a big good pig. The wolves and the pig play together and live happily ever after.

Critical Analysis

Trivizas's laugh-out-loud Three Little Pigs retelling, The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, turns the original story upside down. Filled with endless humor and crazy antics by the villain, the story ends differently from the original, with a message of friendship and how it is never too late to turn good. This tale is one for fans of the original that would love to see the story told through a fresh and slightly different lenses. 

Oxenbury's watercolors bring the story to life and give a soft look to the wolves, who are usually the bad guys in fables like this, and a grizzled, mean look to the pig. Her art gives the setting, especially the flower house a comforting feel. 

Trivizas and Oxenbury have worked together to create a delightful and comical retelling to a well-known tale that should be read by Three Little Pigs fans, young and old.

Review Excerpts

School Library Journal Best Book Award

Horn Book Guide: "Sophisticated readers will appreciate the humor in the details and in the unexpected happy ending."

Publisher's Weekly: "Trivizas laces the text with funny, clever touches, from an ensemble of animals who obligingly donate whatever building materials the wolves require... Oxenbury's watercolors capture the story's broad humor and add a wealth of supplementary details, with exquisite renderings of the wolves' comic temerity and the pig's bellicose stances. Among the wittiest fractured fairytales around."

Connections

More Three Little Pig retellings: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

                                                     The Three Ninja Pigs by Rosen Schwartz

                                                     The Three Pigs by David Wiesner 

Comparison Activity: Use a Venn Diagram to compare the original Three Little Pigs story to this retelling

More illustrated by Helen Oxenbury: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

                                                            We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

                                                            Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

 Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Bibliography

Taback, Simms. 1999. JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT. Ill. by Simms Taback. New York, NY:             Scholastic Inc. ISBN 0439216974

Plot Summary

Joseph is a man with a little overcoat. As it gets old and worn, he makes it into something new, like a vest or tie. This process continues until all he has left of the overcoat is a little button, which he loses. Instead of being sad about the lost button, he writes a book about his overcoat and how he was able to make something new out of something old and how even when you have nothing else anymore, you can still create something. 

Critical Analysis

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback is about the journey of a man and his coat and how the old can become new again. The plot of this story is sequential, since Taback took inspiration from an old Yiddish folk song, so it is easy for kids to follow. Readers follow Joseph and his continuous process of breaking down his overcoat into different and new pieces of clothing until it is just a tiny button. Even after the button is gone, Joseph can still put the overcoat to use by writing a story about it. This shapes into a good moral about being able to still create even when you have nothing left but the memories.

Taback also illustrated this book, using cut illustrations made from water color and collage. It is fun to point out the mismatched images and to watch the cut outs become new pictures. The illustrations are also very homey and fit well with the folktale feeling and plot. 

The combination of old with new makes this tale one for children and adults alike, and an enjoyable experience for lovers of folk songs and culture.

Review Excerpts

2000 Caldecott Medal

Barbara Kiefer, Caldecott Award Committee: "Vibrant rich colors, playful details, and skillfully placed die cuts  contribute to the books raucous merriment that takes this Yiddish folk song far beyond the simple words."

Publisher's Weekly: With its effective repetition and an abundance of visual humor, this is tailor-made for reading aloud."

Connections

More Cut Out Books: Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert

                                    In My Heart by Jo Witek

                                    Night Light by Nicholas Blechman

The Art of Taback: Use construction paper and magazines to make your own Taback illustration!

More by Simms Taback: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

                                        This is the House that Jack Built

                                        I Miss You Everyday

Beautiful Blackbird

Beautiful Blackbird

Bibliography

Bryan, Ashley. 2003. BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD. Ill. by Ashley Bryan. New York, NY: Atheneum. ISBN 0689847319

Plot Summary

This is a retelling of an old African tale. Amongst all the birds, Blackbird is considered the most beautiful of them all. The other birds praise him and dance around him. Then Ringdove asks Blackbird to share his black with himself and the other birds. With his black feather, Blackbird gives his touch of color to Ringdove and the others, with reminders that they are still beautiful and unique in their own way. The birds sing and dance and cheer that black is beautiful.

Critical Analysis

    Ashley Bryan's Beautiful Blackbird, is a colorful, rhythmic, and celebratory retelling of a story by the Ila people of Africa. Bryan uses rhyme and bouncy rhythm to weave a charming tale of beauty and uniqueness. These themes are repeated numerously by the other birds ("Black is beautiful, uh-huh!) and by Blackbird ("Just remember, whatever I do, I'll be me and you'll be you"). Children will enjoy the little songs and dances throughout and will no doubtfully join along. 

    To go along with this colorful story is the fantastically colorful illustrations done by Ashley Bryan himself. Using paper cut and shaped by scissors, the art is bold and our eyes are continuously drawn to them, especially to the title character's beautiful black feathers. The uniqueness of the art form pairs wonderfully with this tale and its origins, as lots of African art work is bright and bold in color. 

    Beautiful Blackbird is a tale filled with imagination and wonder and celebrates how gorgeous black can be and how being yourself is beautiful. 

Review Excerpts

Kirkus Reviews: "Still, the rolling language and appealing illustrations make this a must."

Horn Book Guide: "Here's a life-enhancing folktale from Zambia--how birds got their black markings--and a simple, scissors-and-brush way of using collage. Silhouetted birds, in shades of violet, yellow, green, blue, are oddly drab without markings. Ringdove asks Blackbird, the most beautiful, to paint him a necklace of black; Blackbird complies, then promises the others touches of black, too. In sum, we can all partake of the beauty of black."

Common Sense Media: "This ode to black, the most inclusive color of all, is satisfying in many ways. The story is an old one brought to new life by the author. Told in the best traditional storytelling fashion, the author uses repetition and rhythm to great effect."

Connections

More by Ashley Bryan: Freedom Over Me, Dancing Granny, Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum

Books that celebrate blackness: Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry

                                                   All Because You Matter by Tami Charles

                                                   Big by Vashti Harrison

Art Activity: Become an artist like Ashley Bryan! Draw and cut out different images to make a beautiful picture!

                                        

Swamp Angel

 Swamp Angel

Bibliography

Isaacs, Anne. 1994. SWAMP ANGEL. Ill. by Paul O. Zelinsky. New York, NY: Puffin Books. ISBN 0140559086

Plot Summary

Angelica Longrider, also know as Swamp Angel, is a woman who uses her size, strength, and smarts to fight a bear that has been terrorizing her Tennessee town. When the men in her town fail, Swamp Angel herself goes toe-to-toe with Thundering Tarnation and battles him across the prairie. A tired Thundering Tarnation makes a huge mistake which costs him his life and his pelt, which Swamp Angel proudly wears, which is how the Shortgrass Prairie came to be. 

Critical Analysis

    Anne Isaac's tall tale, Swamp Angel, is a humorous story that is stylistically appealing, as well as visually. Isaac's use of figurative language brings the story to life, with simile and metaphor usage. The character of Swamp Angel takes center stage as a strong woman that does what the men can't do. The plot will have children and adults alike laughing at some of the shenanigans the characters get up to and the unreal lengths Angelica Longrider goes to to get the bear's pelt. 

    The story is set in the American frontier, classic for a tall tale, which is illustrated beautifully by Paul O. Zelinsky. His paintings are wonderous and fill the pages with color and have such an imaginative feel, that while reading, one can see these pictures stepping out of the pages and coming to life. 

    Swamp Angel is an instant classic, which should be shared through the ages, and our title character has joined the tall tale ranks alongside the likes of John Henry and Calamity Jane. 

Review Excerpts

1995 Caldecott Honors

Kirkus Reviews: "It is impossible to convey the sheet pleasure, exaggerated loopiness, of newcomer Isaac's wonderful story"

Horn Book Review: ""Visually exciting, wonderful to read aloud, this is a picture book to remember."

Connections

Tall Tale Connections: How does Swamp Angel follow certain tall tale tropes? Create a chart with your class.

More illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky

                                                             Wheels on the Bus by Paul O. Zelinksy

                                                             Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary

More TALL tales: Dona Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Giant Big Heart by Pat Mora

                              The BFG by Roald Dahl

                              Jack and the Beanstalk by Steven Kellogg

Sylvestor and the Magic Pebble Review

Sylvestor and the Magic Pebble

 

Bibliography

Steig, William. 1969. SYLVESTOR AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE. Ill. by William Steig. New York,         NY: Windmill Books Inc. ISBN 0671662694

Plot Summary

Sylvestor the donkey comes across a magic pebble and accidently wishes himself into a rock. Unable to wish himself back, he watches as the seasons go by and his family and friends search for him and miss him. One day, his parents have a picnic on the hill that he sits on and find the magic pebble. After they place it on his back, Sylvestor wishes himself back to normal and he and his parents are happy again.

Critical Analysis

    Steig's Caldecott award winning picture book, Sylvestor and the Magic Pebble, shows his readers how families bring happiness and how you have to be careful what you wish for. The plot itself is simple, with frequent medium-sized paragraphs and complex sentences, making this a book that can help prepare children for chapter books. The author's diction begins to expose kids to complex language (ceased instead of stopped, perplexed instead of worried), but this diction gets the reader interested in the story

    Steig's pen and ink illustrations make the page vibrant in color and make it easy to read the characters' emotions. The placement of some of the pictures (around the sentences or over the sentences) draw the readers' eyes all over the page and make them pay attention to the detail of the artwork. The shading makes many of the images pop.

    Overall, Steig has produced a tale of magic and heart that people can continue to read for years to come and that will make children's' imaginations soar.

Review Excerpts

Caldecott Medal 1970

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award 1978

Kirkus Reviews: "...surely the prize predicament of the year and, in William Steig's pearly colors, one of the prettiest... is a fable of happy families of all breeds."

Connections

More by William Steig: Shrek!, Doctor De Soto, Abel's Island

If I Found a Magic Pebble...: Have the students write what they would wish for if they found a magic pebble like Sylvestor

More picture books with animal characters: The Story or Babar by Jean de Brunhoff

                                                                       The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

                                                                       Oliva by Ian Falconer