The Three Little Swine: A Revisionist History

The official story of “The Three Little Pigs” indicates that incompetent and penniless piglets happened upon hard-working farmers on their way to market; asked them for their loads of straw, lumber, and brick; and—without offering compensation or applying coercion—were graciously given these valuable commodities. The implausibility of this account prompted recent historical research into what actually happened. Despite the intervening centuries, the investigators were able to locate and interview descendants of several other animals who had lived at site of the events and knew the pig family. The research results are reported here for the first time, in language suitable for children ages 4-8, accompanied by 21 illustrations.