The Three Little Pugs and the Big Bad Cat is an amusing retelling of the story of the Three Little Pigs. My daughter and I giggled our way through the first reading of this story and there is a particular incident which makes us laugh every time we think about it. It really takes an original look at a story that is familiar to us all.
The Story: Mother Pug tells Bubbles, Bandit and Beauty that it’s time for them to find homes of their own. Bubbles builds a house of straw but the Big Bad Cat comes along and blows it down. Bandit’s house of sticks is also blown down but when the Big Bad Cat tries to blow down Beauty’s brick house she gets a surprise. The house is empty and the three pugs have found a much better home. But the Big Bad Cat is not happy when she discovers where their new home is…
The three little pugs all have very different personalities. Bubbles’ housebuilding is governed by his stomach and Bandit’s by his favourite things. Beauty is the cautious, thoughtful pug whose plan ensures that the three little pugs find a home that will suit all their needs.
The plot of the story is the same as the traditional version and the houses are built out of straw, sticks and bricks. The part of the story that made us laugh the most was the way that the Big Bad Cat blew the houses down. We particularly like the way that she blows the house of straw down! There’s a fun twist at the end of the story, my daughter loves looking at the different photos of the three little pugs in their new home.
Caroline Attia’s illustrations are full of detail, action and speech bubbles to move the story along. We love the expressions on the characters’ faces especially the Big Bad Cat’s expression when she discovers that the brick house is empty. The three little pugs are photoshopped into the pictures and also have a range of amusing facial expressions which add to the humour in the text, we particularly like the picture of them looking at their top secret plans, my daughter thinks that Beauty’s glasses are funny!
The Three Little Pugs and the Big Bad Cat would be a great story to include in a classroom topic on fairytales. Children could be introduced to the idea of writing fractured fairytales by substituting new characters into traditional stories. They could also rewrite their own versions of the three little pigs with their favourite animals.
If you are looking to introduce your children to fractured fairytales this is a really amusing story to choose. We would love to know which are your favourite fractured fairytales. Please leave the titles in the comments.
Age: 4 +
Author: Becky Davies / Illustrator: Caroline Attia
Thank you to Little Tiger Press for sending us The Three Little Pugs and the Big Bad Cat. There were some parts of the story that I just couldn’t read out loud as I was laughing so much!
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