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Rick's Books |
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Hardcover
Library Binding
Paperback |
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Summary:
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When three scary witches decide they want the beautiful castles that three pigs have built for themselves, there are surprising results. |
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Blurb:
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It's not just any story about pigs--it's the piggest story ever!
When three brothers--Pig Pigger and Piggest--meet three sisters--Witch, Witcher, and Witchest--the union is, well, rather stormy. And it's one that grows in increments, too, from big to bigger to biggest, in as many unusual ways as you can imagine. (Look at all the pictures carefully!) Luckily, all's well that ends well--especially when it all ends in the biggest mud field a pig could wish for. Rick Walton, the author of Once There Was a Bull...frog (Gibbs Smith, 1995) and You Don't Always Get What You Hope For (Gibbs Smith, 1996), takes readers on the wild, wilder, wildest ride yet through a three-pig kingdom. |
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Awards:
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Starred review in the bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 1997. |
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Reviews:
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"...good-humored rewriting of "The Three Little Pigs"...definitely a funny book." --
Publisher's Weekly
, 7/14/97.
"...a charming and zany version of the familiar story....In the end, everyone is a winner." -- Children's Book Review Service, Inc. , 12/97, Vol. 26 No. 4. "...you'll catch on, and so will kids, as this fractured "Three Little Pigs" bounces to its happily weded conclusion....Accompanying Walton's tilted text are Holder's appropriately tipsy watercolors, in which the architecturally inclined little porkers bounce their jolly, if muddy, way through a backdrop of silly images and snortingly funny characterizations." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Relying on a wordplay of superlatives and snatches of at least three traditional tales, Walton creates a whacked-out, fractured fairytale that will bring smiles to young and old. Holder's illustrations emphasize the superlative theme. A good choice for reading aloud. As with other fractured fairy tales, such as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by A. Wolf (Scieszka) and The Paper Bag Princess (Munsch), this picture book could also be used effecstively with older children as a springboard for a creative writing exercise." --Marsha Broadway, Children's Book and Play Review , Volume 18, Number 4, March/April 1998. "Talk about humor. Not only is this new version (of the Three Little Pigs story) a chuckler, but the pigs look like overweight grandpas who've forgotten to put in their teeth, and there's a forever grazing horse munching away by each of the castles that seems to grow kinnier with every bite. This is a book parents will enjoy reading and children will love hearing again and again." --Tricia Gardella, The Union Democrat , Sonora, CA, August 21, 1998. "The Three Little Pigs are riotously reinvented in this new book: no straw or wood or brick, no boiled wolves. The repetitive text retains its folkloric texture while giving us one surprise after another, with a plot twist that will delight readers of all ages. Lively illustrations with sly jokes practically burst off all the pages, and double spreads of luscious mud hint at the pigs' deepest desires as they work out their conflict with Witch, Witcher, and Witchest."-- Mary Palmer, in The Bloomsbury Review , September/October 1998.
"...can only be called delightfully entertaining." --Ann Arbor, MI News, December 27, 1999. |
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Dedication:
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To the superlative Joe and Debbie Ivie and their kids, Robert, Brittnie, Brady, Brandon, Bradley, and Brooke |
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Author Bio:
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Rick Walton is the happy author of thirty books for children. He, his happier wife, and their happiest four children (who love to play in the mud) live in Provo, Utah, where Rick spends his time playing the guitar, reading, taking walks, taking naps, writing for children, and wishing that Huff and Puff would water his lawn. |
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Rick's Notes:
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The original draft of this story wasn't a story at all. It was just a list of words designed to play off each
other--big bigger biggest, pig pigger piggest. The title at that, though, was
Pig Pigger Piggest
. The title alone attracted my editor's interest at Gibbs Smith. She encouraged me though to turn it into a story,
and I agreed. The title, implying three pigs, led naturally to a take-off of the classic fairy tale.
There are a lot of illustrated comparatives and superlatives in the book, as well as rhymed adjective/noun pairs. For examples to look for, look at the Pig Pigger Piggest curriculum. My favorite scene in the book is the marriage proposal and acceptance. My kids love to play in mud. We have a dirt pile in our back yard. The kids take the garden hose to the pile and built lakes and rivers, and mud pits for their toy dinosaurs to get stuck in. When they're done they come into the house and clean themselves off in the sink, clogging it horribly. One reason I wrote this book is because I believe that media can be lots of fun and still educational. I hope that kids reading this book will enjoy it, but will also come away with a better understanding of descriptive, comparative, and superlative words. After the pigs and witches married, they did have children. Lots of little wigs and pitches. |
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Rick answers questions about Pig Pigger Piggest
Curriculum suggestions:
: Ways to use Pig Pigger Piggest in your classroom, ideas for enrichment, and just general fun activities.
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