Too many pigs and one big bad wolf

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Title:

Too many pigs and one big bad wolf

Author:

Calì, Davide, 1972- author.

Balducci, Marianna, illustrator.

Summary:

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. Then the wolf ate them. THE END. This story is too short! I want a longer one! In this clever counting book, the big bad wolf doesn’t want to tell a long story. He wants to get to the eating part. But the reader has other ideas. From a pig soccer team to a pig for every letter of the alphabet to 101 pigs in an animated movie, the stories get more and more fantastical . . . but they’re always too short and they ALL end the same way. Using an abacus as the basis for her illustrations, Marianna creates beguiling little pigs and a menacing but slightly bored wolf that perfectly complement the inventive story by Davide Cali. Come for the counting, stay for the storytelling! This book has it all. -- Amazon.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 31 cm

Genre:

Humorous fiction.

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Swine -- Juvenile fiction.

Wolves -- Juvenile fiction.

Counting -- Juvenile fiction.

Author(s):

Balducci, Marianna,

Publisher:

Tundra Books,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9780735269910

Publication Information:

Toronto : Tundra Books, [2022]

Call Number:

P CALI

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003657775	New Picture Books	CALI	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs.Then the wolf ate them. THE END. This story is too short! I want a longer one! In this clever counting book, the big bad wolf doesn't want to tell a long story. He wants to get to the eating part. But the narrator has other ideas. From a pig soccer team to a pig for every letter of the alphabet to 101 pigs in an animated movie, the stories get more and more fantastical... but they're always too short and they ALL end the same way. Using an abacus as the basis for her illustrations, Marianna creates beguiling little pigs and a menacing but slightly bored wolf that perfectly complement the inventive story by Davide Cali. Come for the counting, stay for the storytelling! This book has it all.

Author Notes

Swiss-born Italian writer Davide Cali began his career in 1994 as a cartoon writer for the Italian magazine Linus . He began writing children's books in 1998, and since then he has published more than ninety books for children that have been translated into thirty languages. Davide has taught writing and illustration courses in Italy and all over Europe, and he has won numerous prizes for his picture books, which include Great Dog , Cinderella and the Furry Slippers and Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs . Davide lives in Italy and is currently the art director at the storytelling agency Book on a Tree. He does not know any wolves personally.

Marianna Balducci graduated in fashion studies and works as a freelance illustrator for communication projects and children's books. Drawing is a state of life and her favorite way to explore the world. She usually mixes different techniques, especially illustration and photography. She loves surfing the web, catching great ideas and getting to know people and their stories. Marianna lives in Rimini, Italy, with 101 imaginary pigs.

Reviews (1)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 3--As if a parent is reading a deeply unsatisfying story to a child, whose countering comments appear in red, this version of the traditional story of the three little pigs opens in a few quick sentences. The comments in red demand more, bored by such an uneventful fairy tale. Each subsequent page obligingly adds more and more pigs to the story with a few extra details sprinkled in, but a new critique is always given. Eventually, math problems enter into it, and the story gets so out of hand that there are one thousand pigs as it concludes. By this point, neither the initial reader nor the one commenting in red cares how the story ends; it's beside the point and a good time has been had by all. Not only a fairy tale with a comical twist, this is a unique story that features some fun math problems while always keeping the result of each page the same: wolf eats pigs. This is the perfect book for young readers looking for a good laugh and its bright illustrations are more than appealing to the eye. An abacus is used both in its traditional function (as a counting tool) and to hold the bodies of the pigs themselves. The wolf is illustrated with dark, sketched lines and is almost always accompanied by a prop--a raincoat, calendar, or glasses, to name a few--to keep the story moving along with entertaining detail. VERDICT Better than a read-aloud, this is a read-along, to be acted out, guessed through, or counted out. A fun way to think about too many pigs.--Kerra Mazzariello