We do a lot of fairy tale reenactments at the Cumings house these days. Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and The Three Little Pigs.
It’s fun to see what parts of the story Zoe thinks are most important, and to hear her give me dialogue prompts (“What do you say?”).
Her interpretation of the three little pigs is a delight. At the end, the mama pig joins the three little pigs in the safe brick house. And the wolf, rather than getting boiled in a pot or merely wandering away disappointed, turns out to be not a bad wolf at all. He comes over for a visit, then rebuilds the house of sticks for himself. And they all live happily ever after.
I love this. I love that there is room for everyone in the brick house: three little pigs, one mama pig, and one visiting wolf. I love that everyone finds a home. I love that the pigs and the wolf work it out. There is something so hopeful about this story of Four Pigs and a Wolf.
Loss of Innocence Update: Just a day later, Zoe has accepted the Usborne Book of Fairy Tales interpretation of the story: the wolf ends up in hot water. Literally. (Pro Tip: This is thecorrect use of the word “literally”.) I’m a little sad about this development, but I take comfort in the fact that the mama pig still moves in with the three little pigs. And, most importantly, the little pigs say, “Not by the hair of our chinny-chin-chin!” Usborne, what were you thinking leaving out this immortal line?
Well, what do you say?
Never Done It That Way Before 
Ah, but have your read “The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig”? It’s a gem – make sure you do.
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We have not! But we will, thanks to the magic of the internet and the public library. The other one we like is Wolf Won’t Bite!
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Well, forgive me, but having my head in this week’s gospel reading from Mark 8:27-9:1, what leaped to my mind was, ‘Well who do YOU say that I am?”
And, have you read the Three Little Javelinas? Living in Arizona, as my folks do, it was a very beloved gift from Grandma and Grandpa one year.
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Ha! I did not think of that, probably because we’re using that fancy new narrative lectionary, so I’m thinking about Abraham this week.
And, I just requested The Three Little Javelinas from the library! Looks great!
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You are? I’ll want to hear about that. I signed up for workshops about it at the Celebration of Biblical preaching event that you are (sadly) not going to.
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I am! So far, so good! It is sad that I’m not going, but it is just not a good week for me. Do come to Litch before or after, though, if you can!
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Thank you Zoe once again . As the saying goes out of the mouth of Babes . In reading this it says to me there can be a wolf at our door many times. What in Fact do we do ? I Like Zoes version invite them in . As we pray do unto others as we would have them do unto us .And then the reality of just how hard that can be , as in the story they boil the wolf . God Bless you Sweet Girl !! So much I learn from you !! Thank you Maggie for sharing her through your Blog .
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What a lovely way of putting it, Susan!
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Maggie,
I am taking Literature for children this semester. I bet Zoe would love Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein. Papa is reading Chicken bedtime stories, but Chicken keeps interrupting to change the ending. It is very funny.
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That sounds like a great book! We will definitely look for it at the library! Thanks, Annie.
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