Genre 2- Traditional Literature-The Three Pigs/Los Tres Cerdos: Nacho, Tito, and Miguel

Book cover accessed from: goodreads.com

Bibliographic data:

Salinas, Bobby. Translated by Amapola Frazen and Marcos Guerrero. 1998. THE THREE PIGS/LOS TRES CERDOS: NACHO, TITO, AND MIGUEL. California: Piñata Publications. Hardback: ISBN 0-934925-05-4

Summary:

Once upon a time, a mother sow watches sadly as her three boys Nacho, Tito, and Miguel decide to take the money they had saved and leave home to seek new adventures and make new friends. As each pig makes its way in search of adventure and new friends, somewhere in the Southwest, their travel takes them to the perfect spot where each pig builds his home with supplies bought from other animals they meet as they travel. Once the houses are built the tricky wolf José, comes along and blows two of the houses in leaving the first two pigs with nowhere to live. José takes them and stashes them away to eat them as pork rinds or carnitas. Nacho, the cleverest pig of the three pigs, is the only one that sees through the wolf’s artificially sugared tricks, and ultimately destroys the wolf’s power to deceive others. The story exposes how those in positions of power are often less strong and frightening than we are led to believe. ^[5]

Critical analysis:

• THE THREE PIGS/LOS TRES CERDOS: NACHO, TITO, AND MIGUEL is a non-violent, retold, cumulative tale and Latin American variant of THE THREE PIGS. The characters are the mother sow (at the very beginning of the story), the three pigs: Nacho, Tito, and Miguel and the wolf José. The pigs are archetypes of good and the wolf José of evil. They are symbolic of basic human traits and not dynamic or complicated.
• The plot is simple, direct, episodic, and full of action. The conflict is crucial to the plot and the resolution is very satisfying. There is a journey with definite obstacles to overcome. ^[1] The story moves forward logically with a quick ebb and flow of action, in a formulaic pattern where the resolution is predictable, but not necessarily realistic. ^[2]
• The setting takes place somewhere in the Southwest, it is vague and established quickly, the time passes rapidly (in a few sentences), and helps us to understand the context for our protagonist.
• The theme is big and contains a global message where good triumphs over evil. It is universal, ethical, and moral with a happy ending. There is rarely any ambivalence or subtlety. ^[3] This is a cautionary tale that sees through the wolf’s artificially sugared tricks, and ultimately destroys the wolf’s power to deceive others. The story exposes how those in positions of power are often less strong and frightening than we are sometimes led to believe. ^[4]
• The reteller’s style, Ms. Salinas, demonstrates her unique voice in print and maintains integrity of the early retellings of the folktale. It has a formalized opening and closing, it is culturally specific revealing attributes valued within Hispanic/Latin culture. ^[6] In addition the style contains a strong sense of rhythm and repeated elements. The motif contained in the folktale is one of adversaries and trickery. This variation offers help for understanding a Spanish dialect/language through the idiomatic expressions used in the story and reads well aloud. ^[7]
• The illustrations are by Ms. Salinas and they complement and extend the story. Her attention to detail in the visual elements creates an image that serves to complement and extend the narrative. Her illustrations reflect the cultural heritage of the tale. In her pictures we get the clearest indications of the context of the story, the setting, the clothing, the foliage, etc. ^[8] She definitely reflects the cultural heritage of the story creating mood, pacing, and tension. If you take a look at Miguel’s books on pages 16-17 of the book you would see some of the author’s favorite titles and heroes who challenge some commonly accepted ways of viewing reality. ^[9]The illustrations are very entertaining, funny, and offer many jokes as well as cross-cultural references to the likes of Elvis Presley, Firda Kahlo, César Chávez, and Cantiflas. ^[11]
• The cultural markers are authentic cultural representations, the language and images are true and they help the reader gain insight into the culture and customs. The pigs eat fresh tortillas and roast corn, and they cook green chile stew. The pigs dress in zoot suits, cowboy hats, and guayaberas (a traditional men's shirt) and landscape they live in is Southwestern. ^[12]

Awards:

Ms. Salinas’ first children’s picture book, The Three Pigs: Nacho, Tito and Miguel received the Tomas Rivera Award in 1999. ^[10]

Review excerpt(s):

School Library Journal, 02/01/1991

Gr K-2-Winner of the 1998 Tom s Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, this book offers a spicy retelling of the familiar tale of the three little pigs. In this version, they are named Nacho, Tito, and Miguel. They eat fresh tortillas and roast corn. They cook green chile stew (recipe included) and prefer to dress in zoot suits, cowboy hats, and guayaberas (a traditional men's shirt). The landscape they inhabit is definitely Southwestern, as are their speech patterns. Violence has been toned down from the original folk tale. Although the wolf, José, still dreams of eating the pigs ("Chicharrones and carnitas sound good!") the most violent scene shows the wolf getting bowled over by a runaway barrel. The excellent illustrations are entertaining, intelligent, and witty, offering lots of visual jokes and cross-cultural references to the likes of Elvis Presley, Frida Kahlo, César Chávez, and Cantinflas. The moderate use of Spanglish in the English text will irritate some readers and delight others. This book is meant to be read out loud. Aside from the recipe for green chile stew, it also offers costume ideas for classroom plays, a glossary, and biographical notes about the author. Highly recommended for all bookstore and library collections. M.O.B. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.[13]

Connections:

• Students will read two versions of The Three Little Pigs. Students will then identify characters, setting and plot of story. Finally, students will compare/contrast the both versions.
• Create a Bingo game using the some of the Spanish words listed in the glossary of the book.
• Review cause and effect and have the students create a flipbook where they illustrate two of their favorite scenes of cause and effect.
• Playacting-Students and teacher can create the costumes on the back of the book to act out the story.

Other books by Bobbi Salinas:

Cinderella Latina/La Cenicienta Latina

Bibliographies:

Vardell, Sylvia M. 2008. CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN ACTION. Libraries Unlimited. Paperback: ISBN13: 9781591585572 Hardback: ISBN13: 9781591586579

Salinas, Bobby. Translated by Amapola Frazen and Marcos Guerrero. 1998. THE THREE PIGS/LOS TRES CERDOS: NACHO, TITO, AND MIGUEL. California: Piñata Publications. Hardback: ISBN 0-934925-05-4

Feria del Libro. A Family Bookfair. http://www.feriadellibro.net/. http://www.feriadellibro.net/web2005/authors/auth04_bsalinas.htm  (accessed June 24, 2011).

Publishers Weekly Children’s Review. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-934925-05-1 (accessed June 24, 2011).

Salinas-Norman, Bobbi, Amapola Franzen, and Marcos Guerrero. 1998. The three pigs : Nacho, Tito, and Miguel. Piñata Publications, 1998. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed June 24, 2011).

[1] Sylvia M Vardell. 2008. CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN ACTION. Libraries Unlimited.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Bobby Salinas. 1998. THE THREE PIGS/LOS TRES CERDOS: NACHO, TITO, AND MIGUEL.

[5]Ibid.

[6] Sylvia M. Vardell. 2008. CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN ACTION. Libraries Unlimited,

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Bobby Salinas. Translated by Amapola Frazen and Marcos Guerrero. 1998. THE THREE PIGS/LOS TRES CERDOS: NACHO, TITO, AND MIGUEL.

[10] Feria del Libro. A Family Bookfair. http://www.feriadellibro.net/.  http://www.feriadellibro.net/web2005/authors/auth04_bsalinas.htm  (accessed June 24, 2011).

[11] Publishers Weekly Children’s Review. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-934925-05-1 (accessed June 24, 2011).

[12] Ibid.

[13] Bobbi Salinas-Norman, Amapola Franzen, and Marcos Guerrero. 1998. The three pigs : Nacho, Tito, and Miguel. Piñata Publications, 1998. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed June 24, 2011).