What follows is the tale as I tell it to my children, perhaps just a smidgen influenced by my professional hat as a librarian.
Once upon a time, there were three pigs who were setting out to make their way into the world. The first thing they needed to do was make homes for themselves.
1st Pig
The first little pig came across a person with a wheelbarrow. (Do you know what a wheelbarrow is? It has two handles and a sort of basket spot, but only one wheel. And you pick up the handles so it’s only resting on the wheel, and wheel it around to help you carry things.) So this pig came across a person with a wheelbarrow full of straw.
“May I buy that straw to build my house?” asked the first little pig. “Yes.” said the person. So the little pig built his house out of straw.
Now, straw can make very fine house indeed, if you mix it with mud and then dry it in the sun. That’s called adobe, and it’s very strong and a great building method. BUT. The first little pig did not do his research, so he did not know this. He took the straw and tied it together with string instead. It was not very stable.
2nd Pig
The second little pig came across a person with a wheelbarrow. (Now you remember what a wheelbarrow is, of course.) It was a wheelbarrow of sticks. “May I buy those sticks to build my house,” asked the pig. “Yes.” said the person. So the second little pig built his house out of sticks.
Now, sticks can make a very fine house indeed. Sticks come from trees, and another way to call sticks when you use them as building material is lumber or wood. And wooden houses need to be kept together with something. Usually carpenters use nails to keep the sticks together. BUT. The second little pig did not do his research either! He did not learn to use nails, and so the second little pig stacked his sticks on top of each other to make the house, with nothing holding them together except gravity. His house was not very stable.
3rd Pig
The third little pig came across a person with a wheelbarrow full of bricks. “May I buy these bricks to build my house?” she asked. “Yes.” said the person. So the third little pig built her house out of bricks. AND….she did her research!
The third little pig learned through her research that bricks can make a very fine house indeed. And the way you keep the bricks together is to use mortar. So the third little pig went out and bought mortar, and a trestle (Oh, that’s a tool to spread the mortar, like a butter knife but it looks more like a pie server.) So the third little pig bought all the right tools that her research had told her she needed, and she built her house out of bricks.
Along came the Big Bad Wolf.
First he came to the first pig’s house, and he said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in” and the little pig said “not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!” So the wolf said “I”ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!”
Well, what was the first little pig’s house made of, do you remember? Straw! And there was only bits of string holding it together, so what do you think happened when the wolf huffed and puffed? You got it. It fell right down.
The first little pig ran to the second little pig’s house, and the wolf ran right behind him. When the wolf got to the door of the house made of sticks, he said, “Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in” and the second little pig said “not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!” So the wolf said “I”ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!
The second pig’s house was made out of, yup that’s right, sticks. And they were held together only by gravity. No nails at all. What do you think happened when the wolf huffed and puffed? You got it. It fell right down.
The first little pig and the second little pig ran to the third little pig’s house, and the wolf ran right behind them. And when he got to the door he said, “Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in” and the third little pig said “not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!” So the wolf said “I”ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!”
Well, the third little pig’s house was made out of bricks. AND if you’ll remember, she did her research. So those bricks were held together tightly with carefully laid mortar. So what do you think happened when the wolf huffed and puffed? That’s right, the house just stayed right there. Nothing happened. And not even when he puffed and huffed did it move.
The wolf eventually got bored and went home, and the pigs stays in their brick house together and played their favorite board games until it was time for dinner.
The end.
