What's the secret to making the world a safer place?
Three brothers find out, in this Read Aloud with Mr. Paul.
Welcome to Read Aloud with Mr. Paul. I'm so glad you could be here.
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Today we'll be reading The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig,
by Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury.
Here is the design on the inside front cover...
And here’s our title page: The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig,
by Eugene Trivizas, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.
Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur
and fluffy tails who lived with their mother.
The first was black, the second was gray, and the third was white.
One day the mother called the three little wolves around her and said,
"My children, it is time for you to go out into the world.
Go and build a house for yourselves. But beware of the big bad pig."
"Don't worry, Mother, we will watch out for him," said the three little wolves, and they set off.
Soon they met a kangaroo who was pushing a wheelbarrow full of red and yellow bricks.
"Please, will you give us some of your bricks?" asked the three little wolves.
"Certainly," said the kangaroo, and she gave them lots of red and yellow bricks.
So the three little wolves built themselves a house of bricks.
The very next day the big bad pig came prowling down the road and
saw the house of bricks that the little wolves had built.
The three little wolves were playing croquet in the garden.
When they saw the big bad pig coming, they ran inside the house and locked the door.
The pig knocked on the door and grunted, "Little wolves, little wolves, let me come in!"
"No, no, no," said the three little wolves.
"By the hair on our chinny-chin-chins,
we will not let you in, not for all the tea leaves in our china teapot!"
"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" said the pig.
So he huffed and he puffed and he puffed and he huffed, but the house didn't fall down.
But the pig wasn't called big and bad for nothing.
He went and fetched his sledgehammer, and he knocked the house down.
The three little wolves only just managed to escape before the bricks
crumbled, and they were very frightened indeed.
"We shall have to build a stronger house," they said.
Just then they saw a beaver who was mixing concrete in a concrete mixer.
"Please, will you give us some of your concrete?" asked the three little wolves.
"Certainly," said the beaver, and he gave them buckets and buckets of messy, slurry concrete.
So the three little wolves built themselves a house of concrete.
No sooner had they finished than the big bad pig came prowling down the road
and saw the house of concrete that the little wolves had built.
They were playing battledore and shuttlecock in the garden,
and when they saw the big bad pig coming, they ran inside their house and shut the door.
The pig rang the bell and said, "Little frightened wolves, let me come in!"
"No, no, no," said the three little wolves.
"By the hair on our chinny-chin-chins, we will not let you in,
not for all the tea leaves in our china teapot."
"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" said the pig.
So he huffed and he puffed and puffed and he huffed, but the house didn't fall down.
But the pig wasn't called big and bad for nothing.
He went and fetched his pneumatic drill and smashed the house down.
The three little wolves managed to escape,
but their chinny-chin-chins were trembling and trembling and trembling.
"We shall build an even stronger house," they said, because they were very determined.
Just then they saw a truck coming along the road carrying barbed wire,
iron bars, armor plates, and heavy metal padlocks.
"Please, will you give us some of your barbed wire, a few iron bars and armor plates,
and some heavy metal padlocks?" they said to the rhinoceros who was driving the truck.
"Sure," said the rhinoceros, and he gave them
plenty of barbed wire, iron bars, armor plates, and heavy metal padlocks.
He also gave them some Plexiglas and some reinforced steel chains,
because he was a generous and kindhearted rhinoceros.
So the three little wolves built themselves an extremely strong house.
It was the strongest, securest house one could possibly imagine.
They felt absolutely safe.
The next day the big bad pig came prowling along the road as usual.
The three little wolves were playing hopscotch in the garden.
When they saw the big bad pig coming, they ran inside their house,
bolted the door, and locked all the thirty-seven padlocks.
The pig dialed the video entrance phone and said,
"Little frightened wolves with the trembling chins, let me come in!"
"No, no, no!" said the little wolves.
"By the hair on our chinny-chin-chins,
we will not let you in, not for all the tea leaves in our china teapot."
"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" said the pig.
So he huffed and he puffed and he puffed and he huffed, but the house didn't fall down.
But the pig wasn't called big and bad for nothing.
He brought some dynamite, laid it against the house, lit the fuse, and...
the house blew up.
The three little wolves just managed to escape with their fluffy tails scorched.
"Something must be wrong with our building materials," they said.
"We have to try something different. But what?"
At that moment they saw a flamingo coming along pushing a wheelbarrow full of flowers.
"Please, will you give us some flowers?" asked the little wolves.
"With pleasure," said the flamingo, and he gave them lots of flowers.
So the three little wolves built themselves a house of flowers.
One wall was of marigolds, one of daffodils,
one of pink roses, and one of cherry blossoms.
The ceiling was made of sunflowers, and the floor was a carpet of daisies.
They had water lilies in their bathtub, and buttercups in their refrigerator.
It was a rather fragile house and it swayed in the wind,
but it was very beautiful.
Next day the big bad pig came prowling down the road and saw
the house of flowers that the three little wolves had built.
He rang the bluebell at the door and said,
"Little frightened wolves with the trembling chins and the scorched tails, let me come in!"
"No, no, no," said the three little wolves.
"By the hair on our chinny-chin-chins, we will not let you in,
not for all the tea leaves in our china teapot!"
"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" said the pig.
But as he took a deep breath, ready to huff and puff,
he smelled the soft scent of the flowers.
It was fantastic.
And because the scent was so lovely, the pig took another breath and then another.
Instead of huffing and puffing, he began to sniff.
He sniffed deeper and deeper until he was quite filled with the fragrant scent.
His heart grew tender, and he realized how horrible he had been.
Right then he decided to become a big good pig.
He started to sing and to dance the tarantella.
At first the three little wolves were a bit worried.
It might be a trick.
But soon they realized that the pig had truly changed,
so they came running out of the house.
They started playing games with him.
First they played pig-pog and then piggy-in-the-middle,
and when they were all tired, they invited him into the house.
They offered him tea and strawberries and wolfberries,
and asked him to stay with them as long as he wanted.
The pig accepted, and they all lived happily together ever after.
What do we notice about this story?
First, I imagine we all noticed this story is a reversal of The Three Little Pigs,
which as you'll remember has the main characters under attack from a big bad wolf.
We notice this difference right away, from the moment we see the cover and read the title.
I think it hooks our interest, making us want to see what other ways
this story will be different from the other version we know so well.
That's a smart thing for a writer to do.
Another big difference I notice is that the wolves start with the brick house right away,
whereas in the original, the brick house is the LAST one built.
In this story it's the first, and when it proves not to be strong enough, we the readers wonder,
"Where will they go from here?"
The wolves follow it with the concrete house
and then with the armor-plated house.
It's very interesting to me that the stronger and more secure their homes become,
the uglier they get.
This book was written in 1993, and it seems to me
that it predicted something that happened in America after 2001.
We had a scary day in September of that year, and lots of people became very afraid.
Like the 3 little wolves, many Americans wanted security more than anything else.
For a while, that desire for safety and security over everything else turned our society ugly, too.
That's why I find the end of the book so fascinating--
when the wolves build their last house, out of flowers.
It is obviously weaker than the armor-plated house, but it is beautiful.
It's an inviting place to be.
And when the pig experiences the beauty of the house, he changes.
Now, in real life, will the fragrance of flowers make a mean person turn nice, just like that?
I don't think so. But I believe there is something true about this.
If we build a society that is more beautiful, more inviting, more welcoming,
then those lonely, angry outsiders like the big bad pig
can find a place where they belong, right here among the rest of us.
The way to a safer society is not through being scared and building higher walls and
keeping others out, but by making a better world for all of us to share and enjoy.
Thank you so much for joining me for Read Aloud with Mr. Paul.
Until next time, discover the wonder in a book--pick one up, take a look!
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