While I could easily enough appreciate the artistic excellence portrayed in the version of The Three Little Pigs we read in class, the storyline was an entirely different ballgame.
Frankly, I didn't like it. This is likely because it began to read like a comic book after the first few pages, and I really dislike comic books. The postmodern version simply deviated too far from the original story for my liking. I've read other author's perspectives of stories behind and within the Three Little Pigs, such as the one from the big bad wolf's point of view, and I liked them immeasurably more simply because they took the original work and portrayed it from a different character's view rather than designing another story entirely.
I'm not saying I don't appreciate the imagination that went into creating Weisner's Three Little Pigs, because I certainly admire his daring. He creatively manipulated our perception of whitespace in a book and changed it; made it functional and critical to the plot. He also paralleled his storyline with the concept of a child's imagination. A child can be as realistic or 2-dimensional as he or she pleases, for in their imagination, they call the shots, just like the little pigs did in the story...going into and out of whichever story they pleased, gaining friends all the while.
I've identified myself as an artist first before any other title or description all my life. And from an artistic viewpoint, Weisner is nothing short of brilliant. Mixing drastically different styles of art within the same work can be an incredibly unforgiving task, but he mixes 2-dimensional cartoon art with representational art seamlessly. Cheers.
Secondly, from a writer's stance, I feel that he included just the right amount of text because the photos did quite a bit of storytelling themselves. Because most of the text was dialogue, there isn't too much to say about it except for the fact that it was symbolic and clever that he distorted it at the end with the new characters.
Last, as a reader, I can appreciate the work for the reasons and perspectives mentioned above, but overall...the work was a tad too unfamiliar for me. Can anyone else empathize? Or maybe completely disagree?
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I agree with you completely! Don’t get me wrong, I thought the illustrations were fantastic! I also enjoyed how the different styles of art changed throughout the story, as did the way the text was presented. However, I did not like how the original story veered far away from the version that so many of us know. Due to this fact, I became frustrated while reading the story. I simply wanted the pigs to get out of the other folklores and return to their own story. I felt as though I was no longer reading the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf.
I too read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, in which the wolf tells the story from his perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it simply added another viewpoint to the story. The story itself did not really change, but it allowed the reader to rethink his or her preconceived ideas of the three little pigs and the wolf.
Overall, I thought Wiesner’s The Three Pigs was very creative. It incorporated different genres and artistic styles. However, its use of metafiction discouraged me from wanting to read the story again. This was partially because of my understanding of the different versions of the story and the fact that the pictures seemed to overwhelm me.
I would have to agree with you on the fact that Weisner strayed too far from the original. I think he was trying to remake the original which I do not really like since it's such a classic. Also another thing I would like to point out is that if he's going to pick different fairy type tales to go into he should have picked something other than the one with the dragon since it is not very well known. Or maybe the book was written awhile ago when it was well known?
I think Weisner just tried to use his imagination a little too much while creating this story. But agreed that his illustrations are brillant.
I disagree with the author of this comment. I think that this new version of the story was better than the first. It might be a tad bit unfamiliar, but that is the point, it is trying to be different. The original story is still included in the beginning of the book, and for those of us who know the original story we are able to follow along easily.
This new version tells an important part of the story, the perspective of the pigs. It teaches children to take control of their own lives and to make their own future. To not just follow the path your given, but to make your own. The pigs take a chance and discover a whole new world and make all new friends. They are able to escape from the big bad wolf and be happy in their lives.
Additionally, this story shows how each of the pigs are different and have their own personalities. This also shows kids how everyone is different and doesn't have to be the same. Messages like this one are what make this version of the story better than the original.
Overall, I think many people can relate to this story; even more so than the original. The author uses a creative way to grab readers; specifically children's; attention, and draw them into the story. This story was meant to be different from the original, and maybe was meant for children from younger generations than we are.
I agree that Wiesner's version was a little but out there, and I was happy with the first half of his version of the story. I was more disappointed that there were other children's stories included into the "Three Little Pigs" and that somehow all of the characters enjoyed some food at the pig's table at the end.
I know that there may be many versions of the "Three Little Pigs" story, but this version did not even compare to something that I have heard or read before and that was something that did not appeal to me when reading it. Along with most people in the class, I was expecting the "original" Three Pigs story and we all got a futuristic and trippy version of it.
I was also not a huge fan of this version of the Three Pigs. Maybe it was me being "stuck in tradition" but this twist was a bit much for me and for the children I read it too. I read this story to a 6 and 4 year old, as I read and they looked at pictures I found them more interested in where the pigs were going and why, than they were anything else.
I definitely think, Weisner had good intentions and the illustrations are indeed phenominal, but I think maybe a bit too complex for a chikdren's story like The Three Pigs.
Although I thought the art work was done wonderfully, I think that because the art work is so much more elaborate than the text itself, that causes for the reader to "make up" whatever story he/she wants based on his/her interpretation of the illustrations. That is a bit problematic for me.
I did appreciate the connection Brianna made to the pigs running the story and children in real life, that was pretty clever and gave me a better perspective that I hadn't considered before.
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