ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I analyze the responses of a fi rst-grade class (six-year-olds) to a one-time reading of David Wiesner’s brilliant postmodern version of The Three Pigs. By doing so, I will demonstrate that young children can rise to the challenge of this complex text by doing hard interpretive work, and, in the process enjoy a great deal of intellectual pleasure1. Before I report on the children’s responses, however, I will (a) briefl y summarize Wiesner’s book; (b) contextualize the children’s responses by providing some background information about the classroom and the teacher; and (c) describe how I analyzed the case study data. After these preliminaries, my goal is to highlight and interpret the children’s voices as they puzzled their way through this complex text.
