The Three Pigs

Wiesner, David. The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion, 2001.

What would happen if the big bad wolf huffed and puffed and accidentally blew the pig right out of the story? This fractured fairy tale follows the three little pigs as they escape right off the page and take charge of the story from outside. The illustrations are creative in their use of white space and multi-layered perspective in which pages from stories fall to the ground and are folded, crumpled or made into paper airplanes. But what seems most striking is the way David Wiesner's astounding illustrations switch styles throughout so that we can watch the pigs transform as they leave the frames of the story and enter the white space in between where they are three-dimensional and more realistic. As the pigs have some fun running in and out of other familiar stories, they take on the illustration style of each one, blending into the story and then jumping out the other side. They make some new friends on their journey, and when it's time to go home they know just how to deal with that old wolf. A witty, delightful and visually complex book that turns a traditional tale on its head, offering the pigs a chance to write their own ending. A Caldecott Medal book.