Subbing for the first-grade teacher, I was able to fulfill my favorite part of working with the children: reading a story aloud to them. This time, it was a cherished book: “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” by A. Wolf (as told to children’s author Jon Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith). It’s a retelling of the fairy tale from the point of view of the incarcerated wolf, who attempts to set the record straight after being unfairly maligned since the story was first told.
“My name is Alexander T. Wolf,” he begins in the first paragraph, “but you can call me ‘Al.’”
A hand went up. A question already?
Yes, Angie?
“My daddy’s name is Al.”
More hands were raised.
Let’s continue, I decided, anticipating a protracted interruption for a recitation of other familiarly known people named Al.
A few additional non sequiturs later, we had finished the story. The assignment for the students was to choose which version (the original or this retelling) they liked better and why, in at least two complete sentences.
My favorite response, again from Angie, was this: “I liked the new version because the fox was in jail.”
What fox?
“The fox in the book.”
You mean the big bad wolf, who told the story?
“I thought it was a fox.”
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