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Summary
Summary
Once, there were three pigs who lived in a brick house.
No, not those pigs.
These are the Pygg brothers: James, Marvin, and Lester. And when they get a visit from a wolf named Wilfong, what you think is going to happen doesn't. And what you think couldn't possibly happen actually might. But one thing that will definitely happen is that everyone is going to learn how to make wolf pie--and you know what the main ingredient in that is, right? (It's probably not what you're thinking.)
Author Notes
Brenda Seabrooke's most recent book is Cemetery Street (Holiday House) which was a nominee for the Edgar Award and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Award for best young adult book. This is her first book for Clarion, and she lives on an island in Englewood, Florida. Visit her website at www.childrensbookguild.org/seabrooke.htm .
Liz Callen studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She began her career in advertising, designing animated commercials, and for the last 25 years she has been creating illustrations for children. She lives in Washington State.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-2-Can a wolf and three pigs ever be friends? That's the situation Seabrooke puts forth in this early chapter book. Wilfong, dressed in purple pants, red-and-orange striped socks, turquoise shoes, and a hot-pink scarf, is clearly an unusual wolf. When the Pygg brothers refuse to let him in, he huffs, puffs, and then decides, "If you won't let me in, I won't let you out." Luckily the Pyggs are prepared to stay inside all winter. After watching them play games, listening to their stories, and joining in with their sing-a-longs, Wilfong abandons the idea of eating them. The Pyggs eventually accept the idea of a wolf friend and build him his own room attached to their house. The real moment of truth arrives, however, when a hipster gang of wolves (all in stylish boots) decides to eat the pigs. Wilfong comes up with a creative solution-one that may even inspire young readers to look at their vegetables a little differently. The pencil, watercolor, and digital-media illustrations, while funny, are surprisingly abstract. A flattened 2-D perspective is used for some of the buildings and the wolves' heads. Instead of profiles, the illustrator shows the whole head, unnaturally angled. While there is more text than image, the art is important in establishing the characters' personalities. Readers who are familiar with the traditional story will enjoy anticipating the twists in this more sophisticated version.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this hilarious chapter book, Wilfong the wolf can't blow down the house that belongs to James, Marvin, and Lester Pygg, so he hangs around until the pigs build him a room of his own-with a latch on their side ("He was reformed, but he was still a wolf"). The characters are well developed, and all four chapters are lively and engaging. On a trip to the beach, Wilfong contends with motion sickness and sunburn, but manages to save the pigs from a riptide. In another chapter he fools a pack of menacing wolves (who look like they stumbled out of West Side Story) that surround the house. Wilfong is so disarmingly amiable that he eventually wins a permanent place in the Pyggs's hearts and home. Seabrooke's (Cemetery Street) first-rate dialogue is consistently fresh, and Callen's (Reading, Rhyming, and 'Rithmetic) watercolors add to the slapstick humor. The story is filled with onomatopoeia ideal for read-aloud ("[T]he wolf's teeth chattered with cold. Clickety-click! Clickety-clack!"), but it's the humor in the text and illustrations that will have children laughing and wanting more. Ages 6-9. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
This short chapter book plays with "The Three Little Pigs." Here, the wolf is eager to give up his mean ways and live with the Pygg brothers. After concessions on both sides, the wolf takes his place at the Pyggs' table. Newly independent readers will enjoy this take on the traditional story. Lively illustrations help break up the sometimes daunting text blocks. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Deviating from traditional retellings of "The Three Little Pigs," James, Marvin and Lester Pygg build one brick house together at the start of this lively, accessible fractured tale. Marvin and Lester, cleverly depicted reading a copy of the traditional book, suggest building with straw or sticks, but James insists on sturdy bricks to safeguard against hungry wolves. When Wilfong the wolf shows up, he huffs and puffs, but the Pyggs don't let him inand in a twist, he doesn't let them out. Stubborn and hungry, he spies on the Pyggs, soon growing fond of them and of the food they compassionately share. After being slowly reformed and welcomed into the Pyggs' friendship, Wilfong cooks a vegetarian pot pie (not a lupine pie, as the title suggests) and serves it to a "bunch of big bad wolves" lurking outside. Fooled, they agree to leave as long as they get his recipe. Callen's humorous, vibrant multimedia art deftly matches the tone of Seabrooke's amusing tale, resulting in a winning collaboration for independent readers ready to move on to meatier texts. (Early reader. 6-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
