Book Review – The Three Pigs by Bobbi Salinas
On a recent trip to the library, my oldest daughter was looking for books for her younger sister who was wheelchair bound with a recently broken leg. Her pick was The Three Pigs, or Los Tres Cerdos, retold and illustrated by Bobbi Salinas. I immediately agreed with her pick when I saw folky Mexican artwork and the names of the three pigs: Nacho, Tito, and Miguel, and a wolf named José. I just knew I’d like a book with pigs named Nacho, Tito and Miguel and a wolf named José. I knew right.
Salinas’ Three Pigs is the most original and entertaining version of the tale that I’ve read, and Miguel, the builder with bricks, is the clever hero, that wins, not just by superior architectural materials, but also through wits. José, the wolf, is a more formidable foe, not only because of his prodigious lung capacity, but by his wily plotting to lure Miguel outside.
Salinas’ illustrations alone are worth the price of admission, and may be the best part of the book. Every element deserves close attention. From the paintings on the wall to the books on the shelves, the ceiling fans and the road signs; all of these reflect in loving and humorous detail the culture of the Mexican-American southwest.
The text is in side-by-side English and Spanish. There is a glossary in the back to explain some Mexican expressions that appear on the English side, and also explains some of the Mexican elements in the pictures. There are costume ideas to use in acting out the story and a recipe for Green Chile Stew, serving either 8 humans or 3 pigs.
Published in 1998 by Pinata Publications, this book is, alas, out of print. Too, too, bad.
From the book:
Just as Nacho lay down to read a book
in his new house, along came the
hungry wolf, José.He looked in the window and said,
“Nacho, Nacho, let me come in.”And Nacho replied,
“No way, José!
I won’t let you come in -
not by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin.”
Now you know why the wolf’s name is José.
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