Book Review (Traditional Literature): Three Hungry Pigs and the Wolf Who Came to Dinner

Bibliography
Santore, Charles. 2005. THREE HUNGRY PIGS AND THE WOLF WHO CAME TO DINNER. Random House: New York. ISBN 0375929460

Summary
Bianca, the tree sniffing hunter of truffles, is forced off her farm along with her two piglets. She meets a hungry wolf and is befriended and protected by him.

Critical Analysis
Santore's variation of The Three Pigs is extremely different than the original tale. Other than three pigs and a wolf being involved in the story, there are very few other similarities. The theme of good and evil is still present, but the main theme is the friendship that is created by the pigs and the wolf. The setting of this story is in Italy, and begins with "Once upon a time," but it is not clear how long ago the story takes place; the illustrations are ambiguous to time frames. The illustrations serve to reflect the action of the story and portray the Italian countryside. The author has a note at the beginning of the book that references the Italian culture and the centuries old tradition of hunting for truffles. Without this note, the reader would not be able to see and learn about the culture portrayed in the book.

Review Excerpt
No huffing and puffing occurs in this tale from the creator of The Camel's Lament (2004) and numerous folklore retellings, but one finds stray whiffs of both "The Three Little Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood" in its unusual story line. Truffle-hunting pig Bianca is put to pasture after consuming the merchandise: "Bianca decided she loved eating truffles even more than hunting them!" While braving the woodlands of Alba, Italy (the region specializing in the fungal delicacies, an author's note explains), Bianca and her two piglets face a hungry wolf, but her quick thinking whets the predator's appetite for truffles over pork. The happy ending is too abrupt, and the child appeal of food that exudes a "musky aroma" is pretty much zilch. Still, many children will be drawn to Santore's beautifully finished watercolors, as compelling in depictions of dramatically emoting animal characters as in bird's-eye views of the sun-toasted countryside. Pair this, perhaps, with dePaola's Strega Nona, for another Italian tale about a gourmand who can't get enough of a good thing. -Jennifer Mattson, Booklist

Strengths and Weaknesses
The strength of this book lies in taking a familiar story (The Three Pigs) and instead of making it a story about good conquering evil, it is about forming friendships and helping others, although this goes against the traditional theme of this type of literature. One of the weaknesses of this story is that more cultural references could have been incorporated into the story. The reader could have learned more about Italian traditions and about the culture of the country.

Personal Response and Connections
Santore's retelling of the The Three Pigs is an extremely different variation of the original tale. It would be challenging for younger readers to correlate the two stories. I thought the book was fresh and original, but from the title and front cover artwork, I was expecting a different story. In the end, I was satisfied with what I did get.

One of the activities that could be done with this story is have the students re-write The Three Pigs and incorporate a pre-researched cultural reference for a different country.