Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Three Pigs

Imagine if the reader can jump into the book and change the contents of the book or imagine if the characters in the book decide that they had enough of their daily routine pages and decide to jump out of the book and join us in our life or leave us out their lives. They probably would; all that is needed is a wee bit of imagination.

David Weisner, the super star of picture book illustrations, decides to take us in one such journey - a journey where the characters in the book decide that they do not like the way the story is going along and decide to make some changes. Well, is it hard to figure out what I am talking about? If so, rush to dwell into the book called The Three Pigs.

Let me warn you - this is not one of David Weisner's other books where it is understandable the first time one looks at it. If one expected that the book would be similar to his other great classics like Free Fall, Sector 7, Tuesday or Flotsam, one would be hugely disappointed. This is not on your face imagination unleashed on the pages. This book is a little more subtler and teases you to make some assumptions to comprehend the book fully. 

First time, we saw the book cover at the library, Sooraj shouted - "Is this is the continuation of the books where pigs started to fly?".  He remembered Tuesday, where at the last page of that book, the pigs start flying. I think there are quite a few references to some of his other books. The dragon in the book seems to be similar to one of his earlier books called Loathsome Dragon.
One could also notice some of the pages that look similar to his book - Free Fall.  

The most surprising part is the reaction from my kids after we read through the book. Shraddha wants me to read this book atleast twice a day and Sooraj surprisingly also showed a lot more of interest in this David Weisner book compared to Weisner's other ones. I do not plan to write about the story or the content as it would take away the wonder.  It might be a bit like reading the last page of a mystery book first. It would suffice to say - "Read it with an open mind and be ready to let your imagination fly".  

I have read it so many times with my kids that I have grown into loving it. My initial reaction "Huh!" has slowly changed to "Wow!".  Be patient and it is a rewarding book. 

4 comments:

Itchingtowrite said...

i saw a cartoon on pogo (yes i now watch cartoons, remmeber the names and follow the timings) which had the goblin and the good fellow filling in the missing pages as per their liking by painting the scenes and attaching the pages onto the books

sathish said...

Itchingtowrite,

how did I miss that program? :)

that is an interesting concept.

Sheela said...

How interesting, Satish! So glad you are sharing there here at ST...

Gosh, Itchingtowrite, i am curious now - don't have a clue about the program you mentioned... please add a pointer/more info if possible...

Praba Ram said...

test comment...

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