By Corey Rosen Schwartz
The Three Little Pigs told in bouncy rhyme, where the pig who actually finishes her martial arts training is the one who sends the wolf packing.
The three pigs are done being blown down and eaten, so they sign up for martial arts to deal with the wolf once and for all. The first pig tries aikido, gets bored, and quits early. The second pig starts jujitsu, gets cocky, and doesn't stick with it either. The third pig keeps going to karate class, day after day, until she earns her black belt. When the wolf turns up huffing and puffing, the two half-trained brothers' rusty moves flop, and it's the sister who steps out and kicks him clear down the road. The whole thing rhymes, gallops, and is a joy to read out loud, and Dan Santat's pictures are big, funny, and full of motion.
Some children want to BE a ninja and also happen to love a story that rhymes; this is the one for them. The joke is that training is the whole point: the pig who practices is the pig who wins, and your child gets that message wrapped inside a fairy tale they already half-know. It is broad and grabby and works from four to eight, read aloud to a small one or sounded out by a bigger one. And the hero is a girl pig who out-trains her brothers, which is a nice thing for any child to see without the book ever making a speech about it.