It's Not the Three Little Pigs (It's Not a Fairy Tale #4)

A storyteller's attempts to tell a traditional version of "The Three Little Pigs" unravel when the characters, including a fourth pig sibling, interject their own commentary. Things go off the rails almost immediately when sister Alison shows up and begins critiquing aspects of the original script ("It's terribly written dialogue," she says of the classic "chinny chin chin" line). Other characters prove equally unruly. The first brother--a would-be builder--deems a haystack house structurally unsound. The second, a triple-threat performer who dreams of becoming a star, uses the provided sticks to build a stage. The third, who wishes to be a pumpkin, gets hooked up with a gourd abode by Cinderella's fairy godmother. Boisterous digital renderings capture the figures' glee as they go their own ways for an effect that spotlights the twice-told tale's whirlwind qualities. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)