Do you really remember the story of the Three Little Pigs?
(Click pictures to enlarge)
"By the hair on your chinny-chin-chin, I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!" ~ Wolf
The gorgeous playhouse exhibition at Norfolk Botanical Gardens closes this coming Tuesday and we have just two more houses to explore. We have visited Jack and the Beanstalk, The Crooked Man, Red Riding Hood's Grandmother, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Old MacDonald's Farm and Alice in Wonderland. Today we revisit the well-known story of The Three Little Pigs.
Lazy piggies build houses of straw and sticks.
This grouping won the "Best Representation of Story" award. After three months of rain and weather, the straw house is now looking a bit ragged, but the sticks have held up quite well. These photos were taken on our visit the first weekend in July. Do you really remember the story? I read the original and it was quite different than the sanitized Disney version I knew. The momma sow could not take care of the three piglets and sent them out into the world with the wise advice to "always work hard before you play". The first little pig was very lazy and when he found a pile of straw, he quickly built a small staw hut. His brother warned him that this would not keep out the wolf, but he was not concerned. When the big, bad wolf showed up... he huffed and puffed and easily blew his house in... then the wolf ate the little pig up. (That last part I had forgotten... in my version, the little pig managed to escape to his brother's house)
The second little pig found a pile of sticks and built a small lean-to that doesn't look as if it would keep out anything at all. Then he danced and sang... until the wolf showed up. I am not sure the wolf even had to huff or puff for this one... he could simply kick the house down... And again he had the little pig for supper.
The third little pig did a really good job!
The third little pig was wise and industrious. He found a man with a pile of brick and carefully built a framed house and built the outside with sturdy brick and mortar. It looks like he added a nice slide to play on... or to escape by. He planted cute flowers in the yard and had lovely framed windows to see who is coming up the lane. Pictures of he and his brothers are painted on the side of the house. When the wolf showed up... he huffed and puffed and huffed and puffed and could not blow the house in. The wolf tried several ploys to get the pig out of the house, but the little pig was very smart and outwitted the wolf at every turn. Finally, in desperation, he climbed to the roof of the house and tried to go down the chimney. The little pig quickly put a large pot of water on the roaring fire, the wolf fell in and the little pig had HIM for supper.
Different versions of the story can be read here and here.
What a fun and safe house... even binoculars to see that wolf long before he gets there.
I thought this was appropriate for our brush with Earl. Although we could have used a bit more of the rain, I was happy to see the wind did not materialize. We are about 18 miles inland and the outer banks of North Carolina seem to buffer the effects of hurricanes as they come up the coast.... most of the time. I think our wind gusts got up to 20 mph in the early morning hours on Friday, but this is no more than an everyday occurrence in Oklahoma. So, Earl huffed and puffed and tried to blow us away... but was unsuccessful. And now the skies are clear and the sun is shining and I have to end this post and go out to put back all of the items I secured before the storm. Have a great weekend!
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6 comments:
I love when literature comes to life. I can only imagine the roots that are being laid down in the minds of these children. Someday, they'll look back at this experience and realize how lucky they are that this was here.
Glad Earl turned out to be less than the sum of his parts. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this scenario continues to play out for the rest of this year's hurricane season.
I seem to remember about the first two pigs being eating by he wolf...so glad Earl did not make hs presence known at your house.
I did enjoy all these pictures. I hope they do it again so that maybe Ella can get over and see them.
Yes, what an appropriate post!! I guess I never read the origional version, so unsuitable for children! Some fairy tales have such awful violence in them!! No wonder Disney cleaned it up!! But the houses are so cool, as usual!! Looks like that one little girl is actually trying to push the brick house over, just checking for it's sturdiness!
What a wonderful idea the Botanical Gardens had....And I did not reme,ber the REAL story either. I guess the Disney fols thought it was too dark....lol! Thanks for sharing all of the pictures and the story....And I'm glad Earl dissapated so that you all weren't "blown" awayt...lol
when i saw your post title I did not think of the story of the three little pigs, but the piggy game with the babies toes. have you seen the commercial on TV where the little pig is riding in the back of the SUV going WHEEEEE wheeee Wheeee all the way home? I love it and tha tis what i thought when i saw this. i have always loved the 3 little pigs story.
Loved the photos and the three little piggy houses. I remember the story very well and I guess I am old enough that I new the version of the piggies getting eaten. So good to hear that Earl merely huffed and puffed. :)
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