22. The Three Pigs

"Once upon a time there were three pigs who went out into the world to seek their fortune. The first pig decided to build a house of straw..."

sound familiar? I'm sure most people could finish the fairy tale with no problem. However, if you think that David Wiesner's 2001 version follows any traditional pattern...then you don't know David Wiesner. Wiesner loves a good postmodern book and, quite frankly, so do I. Without giving away too much of the surprises in this book, let's just say that it flips everything on its head.

One thing I love about this book is that there are multiple story lines going on-- in the beginning, you have the traditional text of the book that contradicts Wiesner's illustrations. 

Let me give you an example:

If you were to just read the text, it says that the wolf ate the pig up. If you look closely at the illustration, however, you see that the pig has escaped from the book, rescued by pig #1, much to the amazement of the wolf. So many things continue to pop up later on. Pigs breaking the frame, stepping out of the storybook, and becoming real. Characters occupying 'negative' space and taking charge of their story, refusing to sit idly by as the wolf eats them. The wolf stuck within his story, unable to emerge. So postmodern. So awesome.

The pigs later go on to visit other worlds of storybooks, changing in illustration style each time to match with the theme of the particular text they are inhabiting.  Wiesner uses mixed media to portray the intricacies of each genre, including watercolor, gouache, colored inks, pencil, and colored pencil. He is a master in this book of changing color palettes, texture, and style in each story the pigs enter. He also uses white space brilliantly, leaving multiple pages blank so as to get the feel for the pigs' movement through their world. And don't get me started on the pigs as characters themselves-- so clever and expressive (much of the story is later told through their dialogue)...I wanted to jump right in and fall into their world. 

I will most definitely be reading this to my students this year, maybe in a unit of fractured fairy tales, maybe to study about postmodernism, or maybe just for the fun of it. There's always some new detail I find every time I look at it, so maybe we'll have to read it a few times. Oh darn.

13. A Book

So, Moe's definition of a postmodern picturebook was a little off. Basically, a postmodern picturebook is one that recognizes it is a book. It might talk to the reader or break completely from the frame of a traditional book. It is metafictive-- aware of the fictional elements that make up a book (as it usually breaks those rules). In this story, Mordicai Gerstein did just that.

The wraparound cover of the book is ambiguous...the title is simple, yet mysterious as we see a little girl being chased by all sorts of animals/people and screaming out the name of the author! Why are they chasing her? We must open the book to find out.

What we find as we get to the first opening is a black double-page spread with some furniture lightly drawn in, so as to look like it is night. The words tell us what is going on-- this family lives in a book and when the book is closed, it is nighttime for them. (This reminded me of Chris Van Allsburg's Bad Day at Riverbend).

After the book opens up, we meet the family, getting ready for the day and eating breakfast together. Each member of the family has their own unique story except for the little girl. In fact, they all go off into their stories as the girl is left alone to wonder what her story is. Not to worry, she is quickly whisked away through various others stories by well-known characters who try to help her find her story. In the end, she realizes that she doesn't fit in any one of them, so she will write her own story. Her family is proud of her and the book closes to nighttime once again.

The message of the story is what I loved about it-- knowing that everyone has a voice to share and a story to tell. I can see using it to open up the idea of writing in my classroom, especially for those who are reluctant to feel that their stories are good enough to share. I could also see using it to explore genres of books; as the little girl passes through each type of story/genre, we could look at the elements of each genre. I even liked the idea of using this book to think about what makes a good story, especially after the book says, "Readers like a good story, else they close the book, you know."

I don't see children closing the book on this story because it is so creative. Gerstein allows the children to be able to enjoy it on many levels, from the sheer humor of the dialogue to the deeper messages of fitting in. He incorporates some unique elements that give the book personality. Most of the story is told through humorous dialogue bubbles (well, dialogue trapezoids, actually). This dialogue can be at any angle, sometimes requiring us to turn the book to read it. In addition, the reader sees the story through a unique, aerial perspective. Thus, we are constantly reminded that we are the readers looking in on the characters of this book. If that reminder weren't enough, Gerstein amplifies the postmodernism by having the girl look up at us in fright and asking us to 'turn out the light' in the end. All along the way, we keep turning the pages to find out what scene she is going to show up in next. Gerstein's acrylic, cartoon-like illustrations change in palette with each change in scene-- more vibrant for the fairy tales, more shadow for the detective stories. It's a fun story that you want to have in your hands to investigate all of the creative, hidden details.