The Three Little Pigs

Title: The Three Little Pigs
Genre: Traditional Literature
Author: Barry Moser
Major Awards: None
Age Group: Pre-K-1st grade

In this Three Little Pigs story, a group of three pigs is told by their mother that they need to learn how to live on their own. The three pigs venture out and along the way, each pig builds a home using materials gathered from townspeople. The first and second little pig build their homes out of straw and wood. A wolf asks them to let him inside, but as they decline his offer, he blows their houses in and eats them. When he goes to bother the third little pig, he runs into trouble, as this pig was smart enough to build his home with brick. The wolf tries to invite this third little pig to go out and do things with him, but the pig knows the intentions of the wolf and outsmarts him. At the end, the wolf comes looking for the pig, sliding down his chimney only to find that the pig has placed a pot of boiling water at the end of the chimney, so the wolf dies. The pig eats him for dinner, and is never bothered by a wolf again. 

I most definitely will use this book in my classroom if I teach Kindergarten or First Grade. This is a classical children's novel that has been passed down from generation to generation. It also opens up a child's eyes to the act of persistence. While a malice act, the wolf never gave up on his goal of eating the pigs. I could explain the importance of never giving up on  dreams to my students, and use the wolf as an example of this. 

I believe that Pre-K through first grade students would enjoy this book tremendously. It is a silly novel that definitely grasps the attention of young students, but also has underlying messages and lessons that I think these young students would pick up on. It has large illustrations, so even if these students do not know how to read yet, they can pick up on the book's content fairly easily. 

In my classroom, I could give the students play straw, wood, and bricks and have them construct what they think each little pigs' home looks like. I could also give them a sequencing chart where there are different pictures from the story. They would have to identify which is the beginning, middle, and ending of the story based on the given pictures. Acting out the story is another way for the students to see the story come to life, while also getting a refresher on the content in the story.