The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

By Jon Scieszka

Along with the True Story of Little Red Riding Hood, I have used this book for many different reading lessons. It is a great way to start a discussion on perspective and bias in literature. Students think this book is hilarious; which it is! The wolf ends up in jail and claims to be "framed". He also tries to relate his circumstances to humans in that we eat cheeseburgers, so why was it so bad that he ate a few dead pigs? The illustrations are very creative and the one page with large print that says "This is the real story" is made up of sticks and other materials that come into play in the rest of the story. I think that children also like the idea of a newspaper--which actually comes into play in the True Story of Little Red Riding Hood as well. These books are great to use in a mini-lesson about perspective in literature and from my experience, students can have a fun time comparing and contrasting both original versions and "true story" versions.