"Once upon a time, there were seven little pigs.
One for each color of the rainbow.
And then?
The wolf in yellow ate them all.
THE END
OK, that's enough!
I want a REAL story!
Tiny porcine beads are placed on an abacus in accordance with each new story being told, concerning the big bad wolf and an everchanging number of pigs. The problem for the narrator is that each of the stories is much too short. Although it would seem to have originated with the classic tale of The Three Little Pigs, the only similarities are the characters; only once are there three little pigs.
"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!"
The dialogue is witty, and would make a good book share for young readers to read together. Obviously, there is plenty of drama to rev up the storytelling and who can complain when it's a funny one. Moving from one full spread to the next, the number of pigs changes from 3 to 7, and then gets bigger and bigger until the final count is one thousand ... or more! Readers will be giggling with delight and counting as quickly as they can.
When the number reaches 26, the text lists one pig's name for each letter of the alphabet before moving on to 29 (one for each day of the month of February in a leap year). You have to be kidding! The stories don't seem to be getting much longer, despite the rapidly growing cast of characters.
"Once upon a time, there were
three hundred pigs.
Three hundred? That's a lot!
Yes.
Will it make the story longer?
No, because they were tiny and
the wolf ate them like cereal.
THE END.
I can't take this anymore!"
Marianna Balducci's animated illustrations use 'photography and a very brave abacus' to deal with the groupings created in this humorous text. Expressive faces and changing outfits will inspire little ones to take careful looks with each turn of the page. Those who love numbers and enjoy writing their own stories are sure to find inspiration here.
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