As Promised....Postmodern Picture BooksThe Three Pigs by David Weisner

As promised, Elizabeth, the mom of Sandbox Threads and professor of education, has entered the world of blogging. It was not hard to get her to write on the subject of postmodern picture books. Below is the first in the postmodern picture books feature on The Thread of Sandbox Threads.

I admit it, I am a picture-book-aholic. It is physically difficult for me to be around picture books in a store and not pick them up and eventually purchase at least one. My husband’s nose used to crinkle up when I brought home a great find from a used book store or when an Amazon.com box arrived on the doorstep until I told him that book buying was a much better vice than hitting the vodka bottle each morning. Now he not only puts up with my passion, he has jumped on board, locating interesting titles for me and critiquing the picture books I bring home.

The way picture books combine text and illustrations to convey meaning intrigues me. While I love a good traditional story, I’m drawn to unique books. Books that push the envelope in terms of text and/or illustrations. Postmodern picture books do just this. They shake things up in terms of what readers expect to happen in a story.

Take The Three Pigs by David Weisner, for example. This book begins like the familiar traditional story of three pigs building three types of houses. A couple of pages into the story, the wolf actually blows the pig out of the story. The pig then talks the other two pigs into joining him on his adventure and they fly off on a paper airplane fashioned from a page in the book. Take a look at this unique story to find out what happens.



I’ve read this story to fourth graders and the majority fell in love with the idea that the characters in the book actually left the story.

We’d love to hear what you or your kids think of David Wiesner’s The Three Pigs.

This link takes you to a recent interview of David Weisner. Enjoy, and please let us know what you think about this post, and if you would like to see more like it in the future.

Also, don't forget to visit, Sandbox Threads. No postmodern books, but loads of hip onesies and tees.