CM Magazine: The Big Bad Wolf and the Robot Pig. (Race Ahead with Reading).

________________ CM . . . . Volume XXI Number 26. . . .March 13, 2015

cover
The Big Bad Wolf and the Robot Pig. (Race Ahead with Reading).

Laura North. Illustrated by Kevin Cross.
St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015.
32 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $10.95 (pbk.), $21.56 (RLB.).
ISBN 978-0-7787-1362-3 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-1291-6 (RLB.), ISBN 978-1-4271-7781-0 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-7769-8 (html).

Subject Headings:
Wolves-Fiction.
Pigs-Fiction.
Robots-Fiction.
Humorous stories.

Grades 1-3 / Ages 6-8.

Review by Robert Groberman.

*** /4

excerpt:

That evening, he sat at his dinner table with nothing to eat.

“I can’t scare the pigs any more. That means no more bacon, sausages, or ham”

Just the thought of the juicy meat made the Wolf hungrier. He licked his lips. “I have to get those pigs!”

The Big Bad Wolf and the Robot Pig is author Laura North’s imaginative continuation the Three Little Pigs story. The third little pig, the clever one, has built himself and his two brothers high-security steel houses. The Wolf’s huffing and puffing get him nowhere. The wolf’s response is to build a robot pig that goes to each of the pigs’ houses to invite them to come out to attend a dinner party at the robot pig’s home. When the three pigs arrive, they realize that not only is there not a party, but the “pig” who invited them is actually a robot being controlled by the Wolf and they are in big trouble. The story resolves when the clever pig gains control of the robot and chases the wolf away.

Young readers who are beginning to enjoy longer stories divided into chapters will enjoy this book. The illustrations by Kevin Cross are colourful and take up most of the pages. The text is in large point size. The story is familiar to young readers. Young readers will especially like the story twist that includes the technologies of the high security houses and the robot.

Recommended.

Robert Groberman is a grade one teacher at Katzie Elementary School in Surrey, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364 Hosted by the University of Manitoba.