‘The Three Little Pigs Revisited’: New Version With Recycled Houses and ‘Miscommunication’

From The Blaze
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 4:10pm by Jonathon M. Seidl

Remember the childhood story “The Three Little Pigs”? Complete with animals, action, and some life lessons about not taking the easiest route, the tale has become a classic. And despite variations over the years, the core story remains the same. Until now.

A new version of the story is now popping up in the classroom as part of the the fourth grade reading textbook Storytown: Winning Catch 4. In that book’s version, the wolf has a sudden heart attack while trying to blow down the third little pig’s adobe house. The three little pigs rush to his aid, save him, and while trying to flee from him once recovered, realize that the whole “huff and puff and blow your house down” thing was a simple “lack of communication”: the wolf actually wanted to move in with the pigs and was testing each abode’s structural security.

The story is complete with housing shortages and houses made of recycled newspaper and aluminum. An electronic version can be viewed here by picking theme two, lesson eight.

One reader, however, sent The Blaze a two-page excerpt from the updated version, which is being used in at least one school in Shelby county, Alabama:

This isn’t the first time the pigs have faced scrutiny. In 2008, another version of “The Three Little Pigs” came under fire for not being politically correct. Then, a British educational system award panel turned down a new version of the story called “The Three Little Cowboy Builders” because it was offensive to Muslims, Asians, and builders.

“Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs?” a panel of judges asked.