THE THREE LITTLE PIGS: AN ARCHITECTUAL TALE by Steven Guarnaccia

1.    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Guarnaccia, Steven. 2010. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS: AN ARCHITECTUAL TALE. New York, NY. Abrams. ISBN: 9780810989412

2.    PLOT  SUMMARY

Although the book begins with the “Once upon a time…” predictable beginning, Guarnaccia’s version puts an unusual spin on the pigs, their homes and the big bad wolf. The three pigs in this case are illustrated to represent three famous architects- Frank Gehry, Phillip Johnson and Frank Lloyd Wright.  When the wolf shows up, huffing and puffing, Pig Gehry's house of scraps falls to shambles.  Pig Johnson's home of glass succumbs to a similar fate, as the aforementioned. Only Pig Wright's house, made of stone and concrete remains standing after the wolfs series of attempts to blow it down. This upsets the wolf and leads him to try a series of attempts to trap the pigs. When he is unsuccessful he chooses an alternative entrance- the chimney. The pigs just happen to have a fire going in which the wolf burns his tail and flees the scene.

3.    CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Steven Guarnaccia’s fresh retelling of this classic tale will delight parents for its modernized illustrations and children will find the humanized pigs something to giggle about! Guarnaccia’s cartoon-like illustrations are engaging and hold your interest.

Each of the three little pigs are protagonists for twentieth century architects and are illustrated in such a way that they are recognizable to anyone with an architectural background. Wright is depicted with long hair and hat just as the architect himself would wear. Genry is illustrated as balding and wearing tennis shoes and Johnson is easy to spot due to his rather large black glasses. The illustrator even took liberties with the end pages by providing drawn images of famous architectural buildings, furniture styles and home decor. Each labeled with the designer and dates.

The wolf, himself an original to the classic story, has become modernized with black sunglasses, a leather jacket, jeans and black boots. He moves from house to house by his motorcycle

Within the pages you find each pig architect has blueprinted their house before the actual construction of the home. Guarnaccia’s brought the planning element of each home thoughtfully into this classic tale by having those blueprints drawn onto the pages. The original tale's moral could be inference in the importance of good planning. and this message is carried through with the illustrated blueprints.

4.    REVIEW EXCERPTS

BOOKLIST  review:  Guarnaccia combines a delightfully fractured tale with an ultastylish, kid -friendly primer of 2oth century design.            -- Gillian Engberg

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY review:  He ( Guarnaccia) plays to design fans, decorating the pigs’ homes with objects by the likes of Noguchi and Starck, and his endpapers provide a visual index to the allusions. Without a background in “starchitects,” though, children will need a design history lesson to appreciate this retelling.

5.    CONNECTIONS

This would be a great book to introduce architectural aspects and designers to a group of students who are taking an interior design or housing class.

Collect Guarnaccia’s modern illustrations for display.

Collect other titles or retold/modernized tales for a lesson in comparing and contrasting.